On July 4th, millions of Americans are expected to descend upon Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in the nation’s capital. Between record-setting parades, military flyovers, and fireworks on the National Mall, the district will be buzzing on Independence Day. But the many celebrations also come […]
The first round of July Social Security payments for retirees, now capped at $5,181, will be issued in 10 days. When will payments arrive? Retirees born on or before the 10th of a month will receive this payment on Wednesday, July 8. The second round will go out on July 15 to those born between […]
Next250’s Declaration of Interdependence, a new art gallery featuring Americans’ collective values and hopes for the future, opens in McPherson SquareMore than a thousand people gathered on a block away from the White House on Saturday to unveil their vision for the US’s future, organizers said, with thousands more attending other events around the country.At the Next250 All of US rally, held a week before the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, organizers launched their Declaration of Interdependence, an art installation featuring the collective values they believe should define the next 250 years of America’s story. The pledge – a take on the declaration of independence, the country’s founding text – aims to build a country where everyone can earn a living wage, have access to green spaces and feel safe in their communities, activists said. Continue reading...
The July 2026 Supplemental Security Income payments, worth up to $994, will be sent to recipients in three days. SSI payments are typically issued on the first day of each month. The program supports people with limited income who are blind, age 65 or older, or have another qualifying disability. The amount beneficiaries receive varies […]
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) seized on Vice President JD Vance's recent comments downplaying Watergate this week, warning that the remarks reveal something fundamental about how the vice president views presidential power.Murphy was responding to reporting from journalist Aaron Rupar, who flagged Vance's comments at an event tied to the Richard Nixon Foundation. According to that account, Vance said Nixon's "historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a renaissance, and deservedly so," and joked that if Watergate "happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12 hours news story." Vance reportedly added that "the idea that it took down a presidency is crazy."For Murphy, the remarks were not a throwaway line but a window into the administration's governing philosophy."I actually think this statement is a big deal," the senator wrote. "Because it tells you all you need to know."He then spelled out what he believed Vance had revealed."They believe, in their bones, in an imperial presidency where the executive rules absolutely and uses his power to destroy enemies and enrich himself," Murphy wrote.The exchange adds to a growing back-and-forth over Vance's Nixon comments, which have drawn criticism from Democrats who see in them an attempt to rehabilitate a president forced from office over abuses of power. Hillary Clinton earlier took her own shot at Vance over the same remarks.Watergate, which unfolded after a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972, led to Nixon's resignation in 1974 amid mounting evidence of a cover-up and bipartisan pressure to step down.Murphy, a frequent critic of the administration who has positioned himself as a vocal warning voice about democratic backsliding, framed Vance's apparent dismissiveness toward that history as a tell — a signal of how the current White House understands the limits, or lack thereof, on executive power.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went after Vice President JD Vance Saturday over his comments downplaying the Watergate scandal, using the moment to land a pair of pointed jabs at both the vice president and the Republican Party.Clinton was responding to a New York Times report headlined "Vance Downplays Watergate and Compares Himself to Nixon." According to the story, Vance argued that the scandal which ended Richard Nixon's presidency would amount to "like a 12-hour news story" if it unfolded today, and suggested the "deep state" had been responsible for taking Nixon down.Clinton's first swipe took aim at Vance's grasp of the history itself — and at his administration's record on book bans."Maybe Vance doesn't know this history because it's in one of the books his administration banned," she wrote.Her second was aimed at the broader Republican Party, drawing a contrast between the lawmakers of the Watergate era and those serving today."The difference between Watergate and now is that back then, Republicans actually did something about a law-breaking president," Clinton wrote. "Today, they only roll over for their cult leader."The reference points to the bipartisan reckoning that followed the Watergate break-in, when Republican leaders ultimately pressed Nixon toward resignation rather than defend him through impeachment proceedings.Vance's reported framing inverts that history, casting Nixon less as a president brought down by his own conduct than as a target of unelected government forces — a narrative that echoes the grievance politics central to the current administration.Clinton, a frequent and unsparing critic of President Donald Trump and his allies, has shown little hesitation in needling the administration on social media, and her latest post folded two of the left's recurring criticisms — book bans and Republican deference to Trump — into a single response.
Gavin Newsom’s sudden conversion to socialism is a naked act of political opportunism.
Former Republican strategist Rick Wilson said he was worried that House and Senate Republicans had tied themselves so thoroughly to President Donald Trump that the president knows he can blow up their November midterms chances without Wilson told MS NOW anchor Katy Tur that Trump is the kind of personality that deliberately hurts those who show fealty because he sees their kindliness as weakness, and weakness must be abused.“I think this is a real moment where the Republicans, if they were politically smart about it, would try to get some daylight between themselves and Trump, but they are so locked in this abusive marriage with him,” said Wilson. “He is the Ike Turner of their lives. He's going to torture them and hurt them, and they can't seem to escape.”Semafor Congressional Bureau Chief Burgess Everett described Trump’s refusal to pass a popular housing bill until his GOP cohorts pass the SAVE Act — despite the bill’s inevitable doom from Democrats and a few centrist Republicans. But with the November midterms approaching fast Republicans desperately need new laws to brag about.“They need to get together to be able to say, ‘hey, voters, you can trust us with another two years in Congress,’: Everett said. But may be unlikely if Trump refuses to sign any bills until he gets his precious SAVE Act.Wilson said Republicans have only themselves to blame for the monster hounding them out of their Republican majority in November.“Donald Trump started the week in very bad shape. He went in Wednesday and blew up his already tattered relationship with the Senate, threatening to veto this bill. You could see the air going out of Republicans in the House who desperately needed anything, even a symbolic lightweight, ephemeral sort of thing to take to the voters and say ‘yeah, we looked at affordability. We're working on housing costs.’ But I think there's also a great chance that Donald Trump will get bored or restless or change his mind, or somebody will get in his ear over the weekend and he'll blow it all up again,” said Wilson.“The idea that the House is going to be somehow saved by Donald Trump, from its own worship of Donald Trump — which is what's put them in this terrible political position. I think that is a big old category error. And I don't think they see the freight train coming at them.”Tur pointed out that the American public is “speaking pretty clearly” about their own 'fealty' to Trump, with the president suffering a 30-point popularity drop in just over a year.“No president in modern times, with numbers that low doesn't end up splashing some radiation onto the members of his own caucus, of his own House and Senate,” said Wilson, “so these guys are really running up against a very steep hill.” - YouTube youtu.be
Vice President JD Vance struggled to answer pointed questions about the Trump administration's tentative peace deal with Iran during a tense appearance Friday on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher,” particularly when asked about the supposed destruction of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, Mediaite reported Saturday.Maher pressed Vance on what the administration had actually achieved, noting that a central demand going into negotiations was sending inspectors into Iranian facilities, something that has yet to happen."We've got to get in there and we've got to get the dust," Maher said, referring to past comments from President Donald Trump. "And we didn't get in, so how do we get the dust?"Vance attempted to draw a distinction between Iran's ability to enrich uranium – which he claimed had been destroyed – and its existing stockpile of highly enriched material, which he acknowledged the United States has not secured."If we never get it... it's buried deep underground and they don't have the ability to turn it into a nuclear weapon," Vance said. "So the program is functionally destroyed."Maher continued pressing."How do we know that?" he shot back.“Well, because you need functioning centrifuges that can actually spin,” Vance responded.Maher pressed him again.“But what was all the talk about, we’ve got to get in there and we’ve gotta get the dust?” Maher said. “We didn’t get in, so how do we get the dust?”Vance repeated his previous assertion that Iran’s supply of highly enriched material was inaccessible, an answer that didn’t appear to satisfy Maher, who promptly shifted to another topic.