More than 600 have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza despite a US backed ceasefire, Palestinian health officials have said Read Full Article at RT.com

Vladimir Zelensky has ordered a purge at the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Read Full Article at RT.com

The US leadership will fail in its effort to destroy Iran, just like its predecessors, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Read Full Article at RT.com

It will take years for Ukraine to join the EU, Austrian Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer has said, dismissing Zelensky’s 2027 goal Read Full Article at RT.com

UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell has been spotted at the venue hosting Russia-Ukraine-US negotiations in Geneva Read Full Article at RT.com

State-level Charlie Kirk celebrations stand in for an actual GOP agenda, critics say — and no one gets the day off

Bud Cort's death is a reminder to live the best you can, while you can

You may already have forgotten that MyPillow CEO and all-around weirdo Mike Lindell has mounted a vanity campaign for governor of Minnesota. He’s got little chance of making it through even the Republican primary, but nonetheless, some suckers out there have donated money to Lindell. However, out of the roughly $350,000 in contributions he’s netted so far, he has spent over $187,000 on buying his own book—and you betcha he is going to keep doing it. x x YouTube Video When NewsNation pressed Lindell on the book purchases, he claimed that he was handing out the books in lieu of campaign literature, like pamphlets.  “What you can do instead of paying money for flyers and stuff, we had to go around do debates for about a month and a half, these debates, and we gave out the books instead of giving them a little flyer about me,” he said. Also, he said he got the books at a “very good price.” This is an especially odd move given Lindell is not hawking a new book. Rather, “What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO” is Lindell’s self-published memoir from 2019. Back then, he printed 3 million copies at his own expense.  The thing is, conservatives regularly rely on bulk-buying schemes to juice their books’ sales numbers. Typically, that has involved external groups, like the Republican National Committee, snapping them up and then giving them away. That’s what you have to do when you can’t compete in the marketplace of ideas.  However, Lindell’s grift isn’t without precedent. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, shown in 2024. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas allegedly tried a similar trick back in 2020, spending over $153,000 to buy his book “One Vote Away” from third-party retailers. This illegal move triggered complaints from the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan legal organization. However, that alleged scheme was just a drop in a bucket for Cruz. Between 2015 and 2020, a political action committee affiliated with him raked in over $54 million, according to Open Secrets.  That stands in stark contrast with Lindell, who has spent over half of his meager total haul—a move that may be illegal but is also unsustainable. Lindell is not exactly raking in money, so he doesn’t have a lot of money to waste on propping up his book sales.  There’s also the problem of Lindell owing millions of dollars while claiming he is just too broke to pay up. He owes millions of dollars after losing a lawsuit and millions more to his attorneys, who tried to quit back in 2023 over his failure to pay them. (Note: Those are not the same lawyers of Lindells who were recently slapped with sanctions for filing a brief that included AI-hallucinated fake cases.) One should never feel sorry for Lindell, but it is notable that he remains one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest soldiers still promoting the lie that Trump won the 2020 election. However, Lindell, unlike countless others, has not been rewarded with a place in the administration. Sure, Trump shouted out Lindell at a conservative conference in 2025, but that’s about it. Imagine being too weird or too inept for this administration.  Nevertheless, potential Lindell donors, beware! You’re better off lighting that cash on fire.

President Donald Trump wants to hurt Democratic-controlled states by withholding infrastructure funds, but ironically, his moves could sink Republicans in key races in this year’s midterm elections. On Monday, Trump went on yet another diatribe against the critical Gateway project, which will  expand the rail systems between New Jersey and New York, reducing delays that have plagued the nation’s busiest rail corridor.  Trump had been withholding the project’s funding for months, leading to a work stoppage as well as the need to lay off more than 1,000 construction workers. Withholding those funds already hurt Republicans last November in New Jersey’s gubernatorial election, which Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill won easily after making the project a top issue in the race.  A tunnel is under construction in Manhattan that will connect New York and New Jersey. Last week, a federal judge forced Trump to finally release some of the funds. Yet the president still raged against the project, writing on Truth Social on Monday, “I am opposed to the future boondoggle known as ‘Gateway,’ in New York/New Jersey, because it will cost many BILLIONS OF DOLLARS more than projected or anticipated.” Those comments raise questions about whether Trump will try again to delay Gateway funds. However, ending train delays under the Hudson River are important to millions of voters in the New York and New Jersey suburbs, which are home to vulnerable GOP lawmakers. New Jersey GOP Rep. Tom Kean's district has thousands of commuters who are desperate to see the end of tunnel-related New Jersey transit delays. If the Gateway project is delayed further due to Trump's «unhinged» behavior—as Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey described it—it could sink Kean's already tough odds in November. In January, Kean, who claims to support the tunnel, refused to sign on to a letter from New Jersey’s congressional delegation that urged Trump to release the funds Congress had appropriated for the project. Here’s how the New Jersey Globe described Kean’s political peril over Trump’s tunnel drama: Kean’s many Democratic opponents, hoping to take him down in this year’s competitive election for the 7th congressional district, see an opening. Rebecca Bennett called Kean’s response “lots of words, and zero spine,” Brian Varela said he’s “Trump’s puppet,” and Tina Shah said the district needs “someone in Congress who will actually stand up for what we need here in the district. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who represents a toss-up district with many commuters, also faces electoral risk if the project stalls due to Trump. When reports emerged that Trump was withholding the funds in an attempt to get Penn Station, as well as Virginia’s Dulles Airport, named after himself, Lawler refused to condemn Trump, leading to attacks from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. x x YouTube Video “Mike Lawler is once again choosing blind loyalty to Trump, even when it means screwing over New York commuters and tanking the regional economy,” the DCCC said in a statement. “If Lawler actually cared about getting Gateway done, he’d be calling out Trump’s reckless obstruction instead of defending it on national television.” It's not just New York and New Jersey being targeted by Trump's revenge tour. Michigan is also in Trump's crosshairs. He said he would refuse to allow a nearly complete bridge that connects the state to Canada to open unless Canada met some arbitrary demand to treat «the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve.» Michigan is a swing state where Republicans are seeking to pick up a U.S. Senate seat and the state's governor's mansion, and defend a handful of House seats. If he vindictively stops the bridge from opening, it could hamper the GOP's chances in those races. Former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan, shown in 2016. Even the state's Republican former governor slammed Trump over his latest extortionist threat. «The threat to block the bridge’s opening as 'leverage' for broader trade disputes—whether over dairy, liquor, or Canada’s engagement with China—is not a course of action that I believe is appropriate,» former Gov. Rick Snyder wrote in an op-ed in the Toronto Star. «Every day that the Gordie Howe bridge isn’t open raises costs for both businesses and consumers on both sides of the border. Connecting infrastructure of this scale and importance needs to be protected and prioritized, not put at risk.» And in July, Trump pulled funding for a high-speed rail project in California, a state where the GOP is already nearly extinct but could go the way of the Dodo even faster thanks to Trump's actions. Ultimately, Democrats need to net just three seats to win control of the House in November.  By targeting infrastructure projects that impact some of the most competitive House contests on the map, he could help ensure Democrats take control of the chamber and functionally make him a lame duck for the last two years of his presidency.

A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Related | Bezos guts the Washington Post—just like Trump wanted

CBS prevented late night host Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico on Monday night, the latest act of censorship from the increasingly right-wing network in coordination with the Trump administration’s regime at the Federal Communications Commission. x x YouTube Video Colbert revealed the details of the plot on the Monday edition of his program, “The Late Show.” “We were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have [Talarico] on the broadcast,” Colbert explained. “I was told, in some uncertain terms, that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly does not want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this” Colbert said that CBS’ reasoning for blocking his interview with Talarico was sourced to a recent directive from FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee. Carr argued that late-night comedy shows and daytime talk shows are no longer exempt from equal time regulations for broadcasts that require news programs to provide “equal opportunities” for rebuttals during candidate interviews. Related | Does James Talarico know how to flip Texas? FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, the only remaining commissioner appointed by a Democratic president, slammed Carr’s argument at the time. “[Carr’s] announcement therefore does not change the law, but it does represent an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech,” she said in a statement. Colbert further noted, “Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV. He’s like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diapers.” x x YouTube Video Colbert also announced that he was nonetheless going ahead with the interview and posted it in full to his YouTube page where it racked up over 719,000 views in the first nine hours of availability. Talarico posted the interview on his social media account, noting, “This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see. His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert. Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas.” In the interview, Colbert and Talarico discussed Carr’s decision to launch a probe of ABC’s “The View” after he was interviewed on that program and Talarico said the federal action reflected fear of a Democrat winning the Texas Senate race. While Republicans have held both Texas Senate seats since 1997, both Talarico and fellow Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Jasmine Crockett have polled within striking distance of the three current Republican frontrunners. Talarico is within the margin of error in polling against Ken Paxton, John Cornyn, and Wesley Hunt. Related | Jasmine Crockett on blazing her own trail in Texas politics Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate and Democrats would need to flip four seats to take control. CBS’ decision to censor Colbert echoes the network’s ongoing move to the right. At CBS News, conservative editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has been withholding news stories critical of the Trump administration, while CBS parent Paramount paid out a settlement to Trump while the Republican donors who own the company are given a green light for mergers by the administration. Trump is waging war against free speech and corporations like CBS are there to help.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson died on Tuesday, at age 84. The famed civil rights activist inspired hope in generations of young progressives with his inclusive vision following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, and tributes to Jackson Tributes began pouring in soon after news of his death.  Former Vice President Kamala Harris called Jackson “one of America’s greatest patriots,” recalling how she proudly drove her car with a “Jesse Jackson for President” bumper sticker while in law school. “Today and every day, we will carry forward his call to ‘Keep hope alive,’” she wrote. Bernice King, the youngest daughter of Martin Luther King, remembered her father’s former comrade and his tireless advocacy for the marginalized. “As we grieve, we give thanks for a life that pushed hope into weary places,” she said in a post on X. Former South African President Nelson Mandela, left, walks with the Rev. Jesse Jackson after their meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2005. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson described Jackson as a mentor and friend, detailing the many causes Jackson championed. “As we lift up his life and wrap our arms around his family and all those who loved him, I ask you to anchor your hope in action to honor Rev. Jackson's enduring contributions. He believed in you, and found hope in humanity. Do something today to keep hope alive,” Johnson said. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani praised Jackson as a giant of the Civil Rights Movement, writing on X, “He marched, he ran, he organized and he preached justice without apology. May we honor him not just in words, but in struggle.” Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Jackson a “legendary voice for the voiceless, powerful civil rights champion and trailblazer extraordinaire.” Stacey Abrams, a former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, wrote on X, “With courage, tenacity and an audacious spirit, he widened our capacity for imagining true unity and deepened our commitment to justice for all.” Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts described Jackson as a “trailblazer and a fighter” who gave hope to a new generation of leaders. Former President Barack Obama honored Jackson’s “lifetime of service,” saying that “we stood on his shoulders.” xMichelle and I were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of a true giant, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. We will always be grateful for Jesse's lifetime of service, and the friendship our families share. We stood on his shoulders. We send our deepest condolences to the Jackson… pic.twitter.com/Q68r4IJt9U— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 17, 2026 In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump called Jackson “a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts,’” before attacking President Barack Obama and people who call Trump racist. It was classy stuff. C-SPAN posted the historic video of Jackson receiving the President Medal of Freedom in 2000 from president Bill Clinton. xJesse Jackson receives the President Medal of Freedom in 2000 from @BillClinton. RIP. pic.twitter.com/B6P87pb5TV— CSPAN (@cspan) February 17, 2026 Here is a memory of Jackson that I, along with tens of millions of others who grew up knowing that we were somebody, will hold close: Jackson’s legendary 1972 appearance on “Sesame Street.” x x YouTube Video Rest in power.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana is ringing the alarm that his party is headed for big trouble in this year’s midterm elections, singling out the ongoing failure of the Trump economy as a key factor. In an interview with The Hill, Kennedy advocated for Republicans to pass more legislation via the reconciliation process used to pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill” in 2025. Kennedy argues that Republicans need to address rising costs or else they will be punished this fall. He notes that installing pro-Trump operatives in the government and in the judiciary hasn’t helped the party’s approval. “We’re not going to win the midterm by going to the American people and saying, ‘Look, we passed 11 out of 12 appropriations bills and we confirmed all of President Trump’s nominees,’” Kennedy said. Related | American optimism hits new low Kennedy went on to explain, “[Voters are] worried about the cost of living. … In their minds, they’re tired of selling blood plasma to go grocery shopping.” But ironically, Kennedy was one of 51 Senate Republicans who voted for the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which passed on a party-line vote opposed by every Democrat. The bill cut subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), contributing to the increase in health care costs that has been a part of the affordability problems booming under Trump.  The senator is a part of the problem he is now openly worrying about. In Trump’s first year back in office, the economy added almost no jobs—a reversal from the strong job gains that had occurred under former President Joe Biden and a return to Trump’s poor job performance in his first term. Policies like the Big Beautiful Bill and huge tariffs have acted like an anchor on the economy, raising taxes and costs instead of helping consumers. Things have gotten so bad that even a handful of congressional Republicans recently joined with Democrats to symbolically rebuke and rein in Trump’s tariff powers. Recent special election results and races last year have almost uniformly shown voters shifting towards the Democrats, with even Republican wins in previously safe areas showing much narrower margins. There are clear signs of a coming blue tsunami of votes in favor of the Democrats, which has left Republicans scrambling to rig election rules to preserve their party’s power. It hasn’t helped Republicans that Trump’s approval ratings have nosedived. He did not start out his second term from the strong position of other recent presidents like Obama and Biden, and his failures on economic policy have been compounded by his abuse of migrants, embrace of racism, and stumbling on the world stage. On the key issue of affordability, Trump has made things difficult for Republicans trying to win races. He has falsely declared that inflation has been “solved,” and argued that the very notion of affordability was a “hoax” pushed by Democrats. Kennedy is unlikely to get his wish of a Republican bill designed to stop Democratic gains in this year’s elections. Instead, he and his party are stuck with Trump’s poor economy while voters are set to punish the GOP’s failures. Again.

A cartoon by Clay Jones. Related | Trump posts video of the Obamas as apes—and won't apologize

When Victor Villa arrived back at his taqueria in Los Angeles—just 24 hours after appearing alongside Bad Bunny in the Super Bowl halftime show—confetti streamers filled the air as his parents embraced him.  The owner of Villa’s Tacos was among the revelers featured by rapper Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (aka Bad Bunny) during his iconic performance highlighting the deep, colorful Latino culture that has long existed across the Americas. And the message couldn’t have come at a more crucial time for the U.S.  In the past year, Latin Americans and Latino immigrants have become targets of the Trump administration’s cruel mass deportation plan.  “I pray for [the immigrants]. And more than anything, I pray for discernment for ICE agents, that they can open their hearts,” Villa told Daily Kos.   x x YouTube Video When Bad Bunny turned towards the camera on Feb. 8, he was surrounded by a makeshift Puerto Rican sugar cane field. Various other scenes familiar to Latin Americans played out across the performance. All of them aimed to bolster a sense of pride for people and cultures currently under attack by the Trump administration.  “The lady on the corner selling flowers isn't the problem,” Villa said, explaining that the countless arrests happening likely aren’t targeting the hardened criminals the Trump administration claims to be going after.  Related | All the Easter eggs in Bad Bunny’s halftime show While other nationalities have been impacted by Trump’s chaotic deportation crusade, ICE data shows that people from Central and South American countries in particular have had the highest number of arrests. Latinos across the U.S. have been in a state of terror and shock by the federal government’s aggressive approach. Doors remain locked, school graduations have been missed, people aren’t going to work—all out of fear that they or someone they love will be snatched and disappear in Trump’s callous deportation system.  And their fears are increasingly shown to be justified. In the past year, ICE detention facilities saw the highest number of deaths in over 20 years. Meanwhile, men accused of being gang members have been sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador, despite no due process and many not even being from that country.  Many others have been deported to countries other than their homelands, as well.  Leading up to the Super Bowl, headlines swirled with threats of ICE’s presence outside of the Bay Area stadium. And MAGA supporters seethed over the concept of a halftime show by the Puerto Rican artist, who isn’t bringing his new world tour to the U.S. over fears that his shows will be targeted by immigration authorities. But at the Super Bowl, that fear was set aside for at least 13 joyful minutes. Villa, standing behind a mobile grill for his Michelin-recognized tacos, was among the many celebrating that day—both on the field and at home watching the show on TV. Another featured guest during Bad Bunny’s performance also made the magical moment memorable with a legitimate proposal.  x x YouTube Video Daily Kos also spoke with Victor Dimaren, who got on one knee during the performance. He confirmed via text that the proposal to his now-fiancée, Emma Eldridge, was real. Still, after the dust settled and Villa returned to Los Angeles, the business owner’s whirlwind moment of celebration came juxtaposed with the reality of why Bad Bunny closed his performance by saying, “Mi patria, Puerto Rico, seguimos aquí (My country, Puerto Rico, we’re still here).” Latinos, including Puerto Ricans—who are definitely American citizens no matter how many times Republicans forget it—are facing cultural erasure in the U.S.  Related | MAGA freaks out as millions of normal people enjoy Bad Bunny But Villa, after handing out beers to the excited patrons standing in a long line waiting to try his tacos after his Super Bowl cameo, told Daily Kos that he has nothing but pride.  “I started this business, my parents were immigrants and I'm a byproduct of those immigrants,” he said.  “We look at everybody as just people, they deserve to be loved. They deserve to be appreciated. They deserve to be treated with respect.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continued to command the world stage, providing at least one sane emissary from the United States amid the rise of Donald Trump’s chaotic, autocratic movement.  In a wide-ranging interview Sunday at Technische Universität Berlin with German Bundestag member Isabel Cademartori, Ocasio-Cortez took aim at the architects of MAGA’s «anti-cancel culture» movement who are now trying to dodge accountability over the Epstein files—and slammed attorney general Pam Bondi’s pathetic performance before Congress. x x YouTube Video Ocasio-Cortez described the “cancel culture” narrative as a politicization of decency.  “That's the erosion in culture [and] morality that is being hinted at here when Pam Bondi says there's no more work here to be done,” she said. “Really? You are the Attorney General of the United States of America and you don't want to hold any one of these pedophiles accountable. Resign or be impeached.” Bondi’s bizarre performance last week did little to ease the public's frustration over the Trump administration’s handling of the long-promised files.  Related | Pam Bondi loses her sh-t at Epstein hearing The well-earned public scorn being experienced by many powerful figures does not preclude the need for true accountability, and Ocasio-Cortez could run for any office on that—and maybe she will.

Have you been feeling like you need to rush to get a passport in case the SAVE Act voter suppression jamboree becomes law? What if, somehow, President Donald Trump signing a piece of paper means that the provisions of the SAVE Act go into effect even without legislation?  Well, good luck scoring that passport in time.  In what is a nakedly transparent move, even for this administration, the State Department announced that it is just straight-up making it harder to get a passport. Nonprofit libraries were just informed that they can no longer process passport applications. Though the administration teed this up last November when it began sending cease-and-desist letters to nonprofit libraries, it didn’t bring the hammer down nationwide until last week. Oh, and it’s already in effect as of February 13, 2026. Related | GOP's new voter suppression bill won't SAVE anything It sure looks a lot like this is being done with the hopes that either the SAVE Act passes or Trump’s big cool conservative friends on the Supreme Court bless Trump’s assertion that he can just singlehandedly impose a voter ID requirement nationwide. How is the administration justifying this? Well, like so many things—birthright citizenship, sending the military into cities, firing everyone at independent agencies—the administration has decided that decades of settled law and regulations have simply been interpreted by the courts and Congress wrongly all this time. According to the State Department, they’ve suddenly discovered that an obscure 1920 law forms the basis for prohibiting nonprofit libraries from issuing passports.   There’s no explanation as to why, even if the State Department’s novel interpretation had any merit, this had to be rushed through. There’s also no explanation as to why the State Department has repeatedly reviewed, approved, and reauthorized nonprofit libraries to process passport applications in the past, only now discovering it is super-illegal. Government-run libraries are not affected by this announcement, so if your library is run by the county or the city, for example, you’re in luck. Nonprofit libraries are independently run and, gosh, whaddya know? They are most common in Northeastern states: Connecticut, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.  Huh. It’s probably just a coincidence that this would disproportionately affect blue states, right? Roughly 21 million people lack access to the additional documents required to comply with SAVE’s requirements. Driver’s licenses aren’t enough, so people need an additional document like a birth certificate or, you guessed it, a passport. No surprise the administration thus wants to make passports harder to obtain.  Related | Republicans bail on states’ rights so Trump can rig elections You also won’t be surprised that the State Department is lying about the scope of this, saying it only affects “less than one percent of our total network” of 7,500 passport processing facilities. However, the American Library Association—which, let’s face it, is going to be far more reliable here than the administration—says it affects about 1,400 nonprofit libraries, a good deal more than 1%. While this move is no doubt part of an overall voter suppression plan, it’s also part of the administration’s overall attack on libraries. A public service open to everyone? With books about everything? That provides additional support and services to a community? Well, we can’t have that.  At the start of his second term. Trump tried to kill the Institute of Museum and Library Services, firing the board members, placing nearly all staff on administrative leave, and cutting off grants for libraries nationwide. States had to sue to restore the funding, and a court ordered the administration to reinstate the grants last November. IMLS grants are the primary source of federal funding for state libraries, providing about $160 million each year, representing about one-third to one-half of library budgets.  Barring nonprofit libraries from offering passport services is also a financial hit. In Connecticut, for example, one library processed almost 8,000 applications in the last year and received just under $200,000 for those services.  Finally, eliminating nonprofit libraries makes it more likely that people will have to go to government-run offices to get passports. Naturalized citizens are entitled to vote and entitled to a United States passport. However, the administration desperately wants to strip citizenship from naturalized citizens. Where doing so has been quite rare in the past, the administration is shooting for 100-200 of these per month. Sure would be nice and convenient to be able to snatch people up right from the passport line, right? And given that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been given the authority to racially profile people and detain them if ICE decides their proof of citizenship just isn’t valid, based on vibes, it’s likely that plenty of people will just choose not to get a passport at a government-run office.  Nonprofit libraries, on the other hand, often have longer hours, have a space for children to stay occupied during a parent or caregiver’s application process, and assist with language barriers. In short, they make it much safer and easier for people with less means to get a passport, and that’s exactly what the administration seeks to prevent.  It’s tempting to fall back on saying this is a nonstarter because elections are run by the states, and the Supreme Court will not agree that a random executive order is suddenly the law nationwide, but the Supreme Court has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to curbing Trump’s excesses. And of course, the court’s conservatives are also extremely into voter suppression.  Isn’t it fun that the very foundations of American democracy are now based on the whims of the very worst people?

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A cartoon by Mike Luckovich. Related | Trump's incompetent DOJ makes a mess of latest Epstein files drop

Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he thinks that the federal government should take over the 2026 midterm elections—an obvious effort to rig the results in favor of Republicans to prevent Democrats from flipping control of Congress. An FBI press office person approaches the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Georgia on Jan. 28. «These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally. The Republicans should say, we should take over the voting in at least 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,» Trump told Dan Bongino, the loser podcaster who quit his job at the FBI. «We have states that I won that show I didn't win. You're gonna see something in Georgia.» But rather than condemn the obviously illegal and dangerous threat, Republicans have been gaslighting Americans into thinking that Trump didn't mean what he said and is actually just talking about the need to pass their voter suppression SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Take a look at what Senate Majority Leader John Thune said when asked whether he agreed with Trump's horrific demand to «nationalize» elections. «I think the president has clarified what he meant by that, and that is that he supports the SAVE Act,» Thune said Tuesday—an obviously false statement as Trump explicitly said that he wants the federal government to take over elections. xQ: Do you agree with Trump saying we should 'nationalize' elections? THUNE: I think the president has clarified what he meant by that, and that is that he supports the SAVE Act (That is not what he meant)— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-02-03T19:52:16.346Z Similarly, Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio was also asked if he agrees that the federal government should take over elections, and gave a mealy-mouthed response that did not answer the question. «I understand the president's frustration,» Husted said on CNN. «We can instill confidence in both the president and American people that elections are run well through the SAVE Act.» And when host Dana Bash pushed further, Husted demurred. «I don't know exactly what he means,» Husted said.  Yeah, sure bud. xBASH: Do you agree the state is 'an agent for the federal govt' in elections? HUSTED: I understand the president's frustration. We can instill confidence that elections are run well through the SAVE Act B: He wasn't talking about the SAVE Act, though HUSTED: I don't know exactly what he means— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-02-04T18:05:14.622Z Meanwhile, Coward of the Year House Speaker Mike Johnson spread voter fraud lies to defend Trump's call to take over elections—something the former constitutional lawyer should know is illegal.  Related | Why Trump's raid on Georgia election site is so chilling Article I Section 4 of the Constitution explicitly states that, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.”  So Congress can make laws regulating elections, but they cannot run them—as Trump is demanding. «We had three Republican candidates who were ahead on election day in the last cycle, and every time a new tranche of ballots came in they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost. It looks on its face to be fraudulent,» Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. «Can I prove that? No.» xJohnson: “We had three House Republican candidates who were ahead on Election Day…And every time a new tranche of ballots came in, they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost…It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove that? No.”— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-02-03T20:17:21.200Z Of course, the order in which ballots are counted means nothing. Trump then made all of the GOP defenders look like idiots a day later, when he again said that, yes, he really did mean that the federal government should take over elections because of some nonexistent fraud he now has Director of National Intelligence Tulsia Gabbard probing. A cartoon by Clay Jones. «Take a look at Detroit … take a look at Philadelphia, take a look at Atlanta,» Trump said Thursday. «The federal government should not allow that. The federal government should get involved. These are agents of the federal government to count the vote. If they can’t count the vote legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.» Indeed, Trump has already tried to take over election administration with executive orders that sought to require people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote, limiting the use of electronic ballot-counting machines, and blocking states from counting mail-in ballots that were postmarked on Election Day.  But federal judges have blocked the orders, saying that Trump cannot unilaterally change election law. Republicans, who purport to be supporters of states’ rights, should be appalled at Trump's call to federalize elections. But because they’re all sniveling cowards, they’ve instead found any way possible to defend Dear Leader.

Some election leaders are preparing for the possibility of federal pressure. By Jonathan Shorman for Stateline President Donald Trump’s calls this week to “nationalize” elections capped a year of efforts by his administration to exercise authority over state-run elections. The demands now have some state and local election officials fearing — and preparing for — a tumultuous year ahead. “I don’t think we can put anything past this administration,” Oregon Democratic Secretary of State Tobias Read told Stateline in an interview. “I think they’re increasingly desperate, increasingly scared about what’s going to happen when they are held accountable by American voters. So we have to be prepared for everything.” Ever since Trump signed an executive order last March that attempted to impose a requirement that voters prove their citizenship in federal elections, the federal government has engaged in a wide-ranging effort to influence how elections are run. Under the U.S. Constitution, that responsibility belongs to the states. Then came Trump’s remarks on a podcast Monday that Republicans should nationalize elections and take over voting in at least 15 places, though he didn’t specify where. In the Oval Office the next day, the president reaffirmed his view that states are “agents” of the federal government in elections. “I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t do them anyway,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday, despite the Constitution’s clear delegation of that job to states. Related | Election officials draw on sobering 2020 lessons as Trump calls for nationalizing voting Across the country, election officials are watching recent developments and, in some instances, grappling with how the Trump administration’s moves could affect their preparations for November’s midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. Local election officials say they are considering how they would respond to the presence of federal law enforcement near polling places and what steps they need to take to ensure voting proceeds smoothly. Several Democratic election officials, and some Republicans, have spoken out. Placing voting under control of the federal government would represent a fundamental violation of the Constitution, they note. The U.S. Constitution authorizes states to set the time, place and manner of elections for Congress but also allows Congress to change those regulations. The elections themselves are run by the states. “Oh, hell no,” Maine Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a video statement posted to social media about federalizing elections. Bellows, who is running for governor, said she would mail the White House a pocket Constitution, “because it seems they’ve lost their copy.” The U.S. Department of Justice already has sued 24 states and the District of Columbia to obtain unredacted voter rolls that include sensitive personal information that it says is needed to search for noncitizen voters. The Department of Homeland Security wants states to run their voter rolls through a powerful citizenship verification tool. Those opposed to the demand say sharing the data risks the privacy of millions of voters. Many fear the administration could use the information to disqualify eligible voters, challenge the legitimacy of a victory in a closely contested midterm election, or use the information to target political enemies. In recent weeks, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi linked the presence of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in part to Minnesota’s refusal to turn over its voter rolls. And the FBI seized ballots from an elections warehouse Fulton County, Georgia — a state that was a central focus of Trump’s push to overturn his 2020 election loss. Related | Why Trump's raid on Georgia election site is so chilling “I think it does affect our planning as far as, what if there is some sort of federal law enforcement presence on Election Day or before or after? So that definitely factors into our planning,” said Scott McDonell, the Democratic clerk in Dane County, Wisconsin, which includes Madison. Ingham County, Michigan, Clerk Barb Byrum, a Democrat running for secretary of state, said she and other election administrators conduct tabletop exercises and keep emergency plans for numerous scenarios. Those used to focus on floods, power outages and cyberattacks. “Now, unfortunately, it’s turning into the president of the United States meddling in elections,” Byrum said. “We will be prepared. Voters will hopefully not see anything different at their polling locations. … But we need to be diligent.” Pamela Smith, president and CEO of the election security nonprofit Verified Voting, said election officials and their lawyers need to study up on laws and regulations, including chain-of-custody requirements for ballots. David Becker, director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, which operates the Election Official Legal Defense Network, said more than 10,000 lawyers have been recruited who are ready to provide pro bono legal assistance or advice to election officials. When Stateline asked Read whether he anticipates Oregon facing federal pressure over its voter rolls, the secretary of state said he was set to meet this week with county clerks in the Portland metro area “to talk about that very question.” Read’s office later confirmed the meeting took place. Oregon’s largest city, Portland, has been a focus of the Trump administration. Last year, Trump deployed federalized Oregon National Guard members to the city after protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. And federal agents last month shot two people in a hospital parking lot. Portland is a self-described sanctuary city that does not aid the federal government in immigration enforcement. A protester in a frog costume stands in front of federal law enforcement officers outside an ICE facility in Portland, Ore., in Oct. 2025. The concern in Oregon comes after Bondi on Jan. 24 sent a letter to Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz after federal agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in separate shootings in Minneapolis that were captured on video. Bondi’s letter outlined three “common sense solutions” that would help end the “chaos” in Minnesota, she wrote. One of those solutions called for the state to provide the Justice Department with its full, unredacted voter rolls. Minnesota Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon has called Bondi’s letter an “outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota” into handing over the data. Simon hasn’t provided the voter list, but White House border czar Tom Homan is pulling 700 immigration agents from Minnesota amid outrage over their presence. Roughly 2,300 agents will remain in the state. In North Carolina, Durham County Director of Elections Derek Bowens called Trump’s rhetoric and recent federal actions concerning. Bowens, a nonpartisan official appointed by the Durham County Board of Elections, said that as long as the rule of law persists, a “constitutional guard” will protect election administration. Still, Bowens, who oversees elections in a largely Democratic area in a presidential swing state, said he and other local officials are preparing to prevent potential “intrusion” into the process. “I’m not at liberty to divulge what that would be in terms of security protocols, but that’s definitely in the forefronts of our minds,” Bowens said in an interview, adding that he would be working with local emergency services officials “to make sure we’re positioned to ensure everyone that is eligible has unfettered access to the ballot box.” Trump wants federal control Trump appears to be crossing a line from urging Congress to set additional election requirements into wanting the federal government’s hands on states’ election administration infrastructure, said Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the director of the Elections Research Center at the university. “That would be brand new,” Burden said. After Trump called for nationalizing elections during Monday’s appearance on the podcast of Dan Bongino, a right-wing media personality who was previously a top FBI official, the White House said Tuesday that the president had been referring to legislation in Congress that would require individuals to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. The bill has passed the House but is stalled in the Senate. But Trump late Tuesday doubled down on his original comments during an unrelated bill-signing ceremony in the Oval Office. He suggested the federal government should take a role in vote counting. “The federal government should get involved,” Trump said. “These are agents of the federal government to count the votes. If they can’t count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.” Related | FBI's search of Georgia election center is 'dangerous,' experts warn Even before Trump’s nationalization comments, Democratic state chief election officials and some Republicans had refused to turn over copies of voter rolls containing driver’s license numbers, date of birth and full or partial Social Security numbers after the Justice Department began demanding the data last spring. Federal judges in California and Oregon have ruled those states don’t have to provide the data; numerous other lawsuits against other states are ongoing. Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Trump-supporting Republican who campaigned for office on calls to hand-count ballots, told a Missouri House committee on Tuesday that he wouldn’t provide the state’s full voter list without a court order. He said his office had only shared a public version of the voter rolls; Missouri hasn’t been sued by the Justice Department. The Trump administration has previously confirmed it is sharing records with Homeland Security, which operates an online program that it uses to verify citizenship. The Justice Department has also offered some states a confidential agreement to search their voter lists. “Clean voter rolls and basic election safeguards are requisites for free, fair, and transparent elections,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote in a statement to Stateline. “The DOJ Civil Rights Division has a statutory mandate to enforce our federal voting rights laws, and ensuring the voting public’s confidence in the integrity of our elections is a top priority of this administration.” But U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter, a Clinton appointee, wrote in a Jan. 15 decision that the voter roll demands risk a chilling effect on Americans who may opt not to register to vote over concerns about how their information could be used. He dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking California’s voter rolls. “The taking of democracy does not occur in one fell swoop; it is chipped away piece-by-piece until there is nothing left. The case before the Court is one of these cuts that imperils all Americans,” Carter wrote in a 33-page decision. Some Republicans oppose nationalization Amid Trump’s call for nationalizing elections, some Republican election officials have broken with the president even as they have avoided criticizing him directly. State control has long been a central tenant of conservatism, though Trump has challenged elements of Republican orthodoxy over the past decade. Hoskins, the Missouri secretary of state, told state lawmakers on Tuesday, “I personally don’t believe we should nationalize elections.” Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a news release on Monday urged lawmakers to focus on strengthening state administration of elections. He said that was better than “moving to federalize a core function of state government.” Raffensperger, who is running for governor this year, was famously targeted by Trump following the 2020 election to overturn his loss in Georgia. In a phone call, Trump told Raffensperger he wanted to “find 11,780 votes” — the size of his loss in the state. Raffensperger refused to aid Trump. Five years later, Raffensperger now faces pressure from Georgia state lawmakers to provide the state’s unredacted voter list to the Justice Department. The Georgia Senate on Monday passed a resolution calling on the secretary of state to fully comply with the department’s request. Georgia Republican state Sen. Randy Robertson, the resolution’s lead sponsor, said during a state Senate committee hearing last month that federal law supersedes limits on data sharing in Georgia law. He didn’t respond to an interview request. In a statement to Stateline, Raffensperger said that state law is “very clear” that officials aren’t allowed to turn over the information. “I will always follow the law and the Constitution,” Raffensperger wrote. The Georgia Senate vote came less than a week after the FBI searched the Fulton County elections warehouse and seized ballots. Fulton County, which includes much of the Atlanta metro area, was where Trump was indicted on charges of conspiracy and racketeering related to his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election. The case was dismissed last year. The Justice Department didn’t answer a question from Stateline about whether it plans to seek search warrants for other election offices. On Wednesday, Fulton County filed a motion in federal court demanding the return of the seized ballots and other materials, Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts, a Democrat, said at a news conference. The motion also asks for the unsealing of the affidavit used by the FBI to support its search warrant application. “We will fight using all resources against those who seek to take over our elections,” Pitts said. “Our Constitution itself is at stake in this fight.”