Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannas, who served under both President Trump and former President Biden, criticized the federal government’s handling of a Cyclospora outbreak that has impacted thousands of Americans. In an interview with Politico, Yiannas called for an independent review of the government’s response to this outbreak and cited…
Alaska’s effort to appease President Trump’s claims that noncitizens are voting has ended up punishing U.S. citizens.The Alaska Beacon reported Thursday that the state removed 3,048 people from its active voter list, including many citizens who were accidentally flagged by the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles and now have to provide extra identification to be able to vote. The director of the Alaska Division of Elections, Carol Beecher, told state legislators on Wednesday that “old data” was the reason for the mistake and that she wasn’t sure why so many Alaska residents were labeled as noncitizens.When Alaskans apply for a driver’s license, they are asked whether they want to register to vote and if they are a U.S. citizen. State election officials cross-check the DMV’s records with voter rolls each year, and according to Beecher, “more like 200 names” are typically tagged for extra scrutiny.The latest check found “a lot more names than we were expecting,” Beecher said.“We believe that when we did the match, that a lot of old data was picked up somehow. So we’re still ferreting through that,” Beecher said, adding that although the number of flagged names was “very concerning,” the state has to take them seriously. “It is not disenfranchising the individual from being able to vote, but it’s a measure the division has to take to make sure that we only have citizens voting.”Beecher said that those who were flagged will receive a letter asking if they are citizens, and that they merely need to contact the state Division of Elections by email, phone, or regular mail, and state they are a citizen. “We don’t require paperwork. We’re not requiring documentation. Nothing like that,” she added.Eligible U.S. citizens who were removed from the voter rolls disagree.Chris Waigl, who got her driver’s license in 2019 and became a U.S. citizen in 2025, was alarmed to check her registration status last weekend and find that she was listed as “inactive—non citizen.”“They were able to correct it there and then after I sent in copies of my naturalization certificate with a date before my voter registration date,” she told the Beacon via email. “It’s just ridiculous.”Waigl said she reached out to four others who became citizens at the same time as her, and three of them were removed from the voter rolls. One of them told the Beacon by phone that they were removed despite registering in person at a DMV office and presenting citizenship information. Some people told the Beacon that they haven’t been able to reach the Division of Elections by phone, and that mailboxes are full.Alaska’s primary elections are less than a month away on August 18, and the general election is less than two months away in November. The state’s lieutenant governor, Nancy Dahlstrom, is in charge of the elections office and has told state officials to comply with the Trump administration’s requests to turn over copies of Alaska’s voter rolls for a national voter database.But that national database, run by the Department of Homeland Security, has been found to be full of errors, mistakenly flagging U.S. citizens. One month ago, U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan struck it down, saying that the government “haphazardly” created a database of millions of Americans it knew was “inaccurate.”“States have partnered with the federal government to access the database and are actively removing United States citizens from voter rolls based on inaccurate information,” Soonam wrote in a 75-page ruling. “All in all, the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote.”Between the Trump administration and zealous state governments like Alaska’s, thousands of U.S. citizens may not be able to vote in this year’s midterms.
President Donald Trump’s pitch to GOP voters this election cycle may very well be what hands Democrats a historic midterm victory, former Trump official Miles Taylor predicted on MS NOW’s “The Weekend" Sunday.“I genuinely think that we are seeing Donald Trump mount an absolutely historic get-out-the-vote effort," said Taylor, a former senior advisor for the Department of Homeland Security. "The only problem for him is he's doing it for the other side."His fellow panelists burst out laughing. Earlier this month, Trump claimed that if his controversial voter ID bill known as the SAVE America Act became law, Republicans would maintain control of Congress for 100 years. He also told Christian GOP voters that if they supported him in 2024, they “don’t have to vote again” as he and Republicans would have it “fixed so good.”“Almost three in four Democrats in this country say this is the most important midterm in their lifetimes, extraordinary enthusiasm about getting out to vote in this election. On the other hand, Republicans, their enthusiasm is very soft this election cycle,” Taylor said.“It's because there's been a guy at the head of their party for the past two years who's said, 'if you re-elect me, you'll never have to vote again,'" Taylor said. "Unfortunately for him, they seem to be listening! They seem to be thinking, 'maybe we don't need to vote again!' This is the same man who weeks ago on July 3 said, 'if you let me pass the SAVE America Act, Republicans will win for 100 years' – he's telling his side, 'we don't need you to show up, we've got it covered!'”Taylor continued, “That's showing up in the data, and if that holds until election day, it's gonna be a rout for Donald Trump.”Eugene Daniels, “The Weekend" co-hi concurred with Taylor’s prediction, noting that Trump’s claims about supposed Chinese efforts to influence the 2024 election could also have a suppressing effect on GOP voter turnout.“And he's telling his voters that your vote won't count, he's telling them over and over again that they're gonna steal the election! So if I'm a voter, why would I vote?” Daniels said.“If China or Venezuela or these random countries that he chooses are going to make my vote not count, why would I vote? I've talked to Republican strategists who would love for him to stop talking about this, but it's been 10 years and I don't think he's going to.”Taylor argued that while Trump’s own words may very well suppress GOP voter turnout, they were also a key factor in Democrats’ enthusiasm heading into November.“If you look at the data right now, there is a remarkable enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans, and it's largely driven by Trump himself,” Taylor continued. “Donald Trump has made Democrats feel like the fundamental right to vote is at stake, and a lot of folks worry that would result in voter suppression.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell's extended Senate absence complicates the SAVE America Act's path through budget reconciliation as Republicans scramble for votes.
The recent rise of the Democratic Socialists of America is shocking to many, but its rise in popularity coincides with Generation Z’s turnout and involvement in politics. Gen Z was the backbone of the mayoral election of Zohran Mamdani in New York City, with nearly 75% of Gen Z voting for Mamdani, a DSA-backed candidate. […]
A federal appeals court on Saturday ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to implement stricter mail-in voting rules before midterm elections in the coming months, with control of both the House and Senate up for grabs. The 1st U.S. Circuit of Appeals declined to lift a lower-court injunction from June that ruled parts of President…
Judge rejects administration’s request to lift injunction secured by several Democratic-led states on 25 JuneA federal appeals court on Saturday declined to allow Donald Trump’s administration to implement in 23 states his executive order that aims to tighten rules for mail-in voting before the November elections that will decide control of Congress.The Boston-based first US circuit court of appeals rejected the administration’s request to lift an injunction several Democratic-led states secured on 25 June from a lower-court judge who concluded that key parts of the Republican president’s order were unconstitutional. In asking the court to pause the US district judge Indira Talwani’s ruling while it pursues an appeal, the Department of Justice argued that because government agencies had yet to finalize actions and policies to implement Trump’s directive, any lawsuit challenging his order was premature. Continue reading...
