A new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provision would protect the “political speech” of armed forces retirees. Amid the ongoing battle between Secretary of War Pete Hegseth […]
A federal judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to update him on programming and operational plans. But with most of the staff gone and many artists booked elsewhere, what shows would they present?
Veteran political strategist James Carville flagged an upcoming runoff as a potential "earthquake" on Trump's grip on his base.During an episode of the Politics War Room, Carville said that the June 27 runoff for a Senate seat in his home state of Louisiana "is a potential huge earthquake" for Trump.The runoff is part of the race to replace Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who lost in May after Trump endorsed an opposing GOP candidate. Cassidy drew Trump's ire after voting to convict him at his second impeachment trial.The Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) is running against Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming. Carville argued that a Fleming victory would be a huge blow to Trump's command of the GOP."If Fleming were to win, which most people I talked to think is a possibility, that's an earthquake," Carville said. "That's an earthquake. That's in Louisiana. That's a hardcore red state, as you can imagine. That's Trump going all out for one candidate and getting beaten in his own base."Carville described Fleming as "a real, real right-winger for a long time," and predicted that Fleming would attract "all the people that voted for Clay Higgins (R-LA)," referring to the hardline MAGA congressman."All of them, the most intense Clay Higgins people are all going to be for John Fleming, I can tell you," Carville predicted. "Just watch the race Saturday, and if Fleming wins that, I don't know how else you could interpret that but that Trump's just losing his grip on his base."
President Trump held a private meeting with the Republican party members of the Senate. Several GOP Senators are firmly standing in the way of President Trump’s legislative agenda and promising to continue blocking any efforts to pass the Save America Act. . Posted in Big Government, Decepticons, Deep State, Donald Trump, John Thune, Legislation, President […] The post President Trump Delivers Brief Remarks to Press Following Meeting with GOP Senators appeared first on The Last Refuge.
"AOC is now a moderate compared to these wackjobs," one Democratic staffer quipped.
President Donald Trump's decision to abruptly cancel a bill-signing ceremony on Wednesday for a widely popular piece of legislation raised red flags for one political analyst. Trump announced on Truth Social that he was canceling the signing event for a bipartisan housing affordability bill, and said it won't be signed until the SAVE America Act is passed, a bill that would fundamentally transform how American elections are conducted. John Heilemann, a journalist and MS NOW political analyst, warned during a segment on "Deadline: White House" that Trump used a phrase to remember in his Truth Social post announcing the cancellation, one that will become more important as the 2026 midterm elections draw near. "Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby canceled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT," Trump wrote in a pithy post.Heilmann warned that the post revealed Trump's strategy for interfering in the 2026 midterm election. "Donald Trump is starting to broadcast his strategy for interfering with, intervening in, and trying to steal the 2026 election," Heilmann said. "'National emergency' is a phrase that you should remember because I think we're going to start to see it more and more in Donald Trump's communications, both on social media and his language when he talks about these things on the stump. That is how you get to a justification for starting to seize control of the election apparatus and mechanisms ... by which we hold elections. 'National emergency.' He said it right there. I think we are going to hear it again."
CNN anchor Brianna Keilar on Wednesday delivered a blunt fact check for a Republican defending President Donald Trump's plot to interfere with elections.Keilar was talking to Rep. John Rose (R-TN), one of the co-sponsors of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, when the conversation got fiery over tensions within the GOP and Trump's refusal to sign the bill into law."He scrapped the signing of the bill as it was almost underway, because he wants this elections bill passed," Keilar said. "Why should this be held hostage to that?"Rose said he agreed with Trump that the Save America Act needs to be passed, despite its inability to get enough votes in the Senate."I don't know that I would say it's being held hostage, but I think the president is making that the Save America Act, which I very much support and you know the House has passed it now three times," Rose said. "I suspect we'll pass it again here. It needs to move on the Senate side."He tried to argue that Americans of both parties "overwhelmingly agree" that "we should safeguard our elections." But Keilar paused the Republican — and pushed back on his comments."Let me stop you there," Keilar said. "Republicans are not on board in the Senate on this. There's a division even in your party, on the Senate side of this."The anchor was born in Australia with dual citizenship and described why the Save Act could be complicated for other Americans with a similar background."Americans agree with voter ID. This is significantly more than a voter ID bill," Keilar added. "This is a bill that, when you register to vote, complicates mail registration, complicates online registration because it requires a birth certificate or a U.S. passport or a naturalization certificate, which is really difficult, I will tell you, as an American not born in America. That's something that would complicate things for people like me. This also relies on that voter roll database that has had these false negatives when it comes to finding people, as it urges states to verify voter eligibility using the federal verification."
Nearly 30 percent of US state governments believe they may be forced to narrow SNAP eligibility to cope with new costs.
Senate Republicans unveiled annual farm legislation this week that would do nothing to address the worsening nationwide hunger crisis spurred by President Donald Trump and the GOP’s unprecedented assault on federal food aid.The draft bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, omits a Democratic proposal to delay a provision of the 2025 Republican budget law that will require states to pay a share of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the first time in the program’s history, while also increasing states’ share of administrative costs. State leaders have warned of massive budgetary impacts that could result in even deeper cuts to food aid—and potentially force states to withdraw from the SNAP program entirelyTy Jones Cox, vice president for food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), said it was “unconscionable” for Republicans to do nothing in the face of large-scale loss of food aid—including among children—and a looming budgetary disaster for states across the country.“The harm unfolding across the country is already far greater than many anticipated, with more than 4 million people losing SNAP through March,” Cox said in a statement Tuesday. “Even more people will lose the vital food assistance they need to afford groceries unless Congress immediately delays HR 1’s unprecedented shift of significant new SNAP costs to states.”Without congressional action, the SNAP cost-shifting provision of the Republican budget law will take effect on October 1, 2027. Survey data released this month shows that nearly 30% of US state governments believe they could be forced to narrow SNAP eligibility to cope with the new costs, which are expected to average $218 million per state. Eleven percent of states “identified withdrawing from SNAP as a potential risk,” according to the poll conducted by the American Public Human Services Association.It really seems like it should be a bigger deal that 11% of states who responded to this survey identified *withdrawing from SNAP entirely* as a potential risk of the massive cost shift that's about to hit state budgets thanks to H.R. 1. https://t.co/RbsY9LNdLv pic.twitter.com/TKOQIIK0ci— Katie Bergh (@Katie_Bergh) June 23, 2026 Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, said Tuesday that the Republican farm bill “ignores the needs of tens of millions of people, including families with children, older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans, who are finding it increasingly difficult to put food on the table.”“By shifting program costs to states, expanding time limits, and putting a cap on future benefit adjustments, HR 1 has undermined SNAP, the stability of families, communities, and local economies, and weakened state budgets,” FitzSimons warned. “The SNAP benefit cost shift to states and increase in states’ administrative costs will force states to make impossible choices: reduce education funding, delay infrastructure investments, cut public health programs, constrain Medicaid spending, raise taxes, or reduce access to SNAP itself.”Senate Republicans unveiled their farm legislation amid a growing hunger and affordability crisis that experts say is directly attributable to Trump-GOP policies, from blanket tariffs to the war on Iran to SNAP cuts that the new bill—like the House version—does nothing to reverse.Survey data released Tuesday by the No Kid Hungry campaign found that 55% of low-income families with children have had to cut back on groceries recently to make ends meet. The poll also found that 90% of families surveyed reported that they “would have to cut back significantly on food” if they lost SNAP benefits.“Rising prices are making it harder for families to afford basic necessities,” George Kelemen, senior vice president of the No Kid Hungry campaign, said in a statement. “That’s why SNAP’s grocery benefit, which helps feed about 40 million Americans including nearly 16 million children, is a vital support for helping them put food on the table.”“This SNAP crisis is too dangerous to ignore,” Kelemen added. “Reasonable steps must be included in this farm bill to delay the cost-sharing until states have the time they need to implement all the complex changes handed to them.”