A key source of opposition to authoritarian regimes in recent history has come from universities and colleges. Trump has been attacking the independence of American universities, demanding they submit to his requirements and using massive funding cuts as his weapon. David Cole, formerly National Legal Director of the ACLU, has our analysis. Also: M…

As the Senate prepares to vote on the Republican budget, Harold Meyerson talks about what's at stake for Democrats who join Chuck Schumer in voting with Republicans, and the great majority in the opposition. Plus: unions take Trump to court over firings. Also: The Supreme Court ruled against Trump last week in the first test of his refusal to relea…

Trump's forgettable State of the Union speech shows he remains in campaign mode, rather than governing: Harold Meyerson comments. Plus: Trump suffered a big loss at The Supreme Court in the first challenge to his unconstitutional seizure of power: an order to release USAID funding appropriated by Congress. The suit was brought by Public Citizen; th…

"The Coup Has Failed" writes David Dayen in The American Prospect; no president has been less popular than Trump after his first month in office, and "the thing about populism is you have to be popular" – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: House Progressive leader Ro Khanna says “economic empowerment” for the working class should become the Democrats’…

The House budget plan could see deep cuts to Medicaid but, "the political basis for cutting Medicaid because 'this can only hurt the Democrats' is really no longer the case;" also, on Kash Patel's confirmation as the new director of the FBI: "there's nothing like reconfiguring the FBI so it carries out whatever Donald Trump wants, which is what Kas…

Churches are coming together to fight Trump – the lawsuit filed challenges ICE raids in places of worship on First Amendment Freedom of Religion grounds. Also, what does it tell us that both Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins voted 'Yes' for two terrible Trump nominees (Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr.) when they didn't have to? Harold Meyerson comments. Pl…

The Democrats have become more active in trying to stop the worst of Trump - and Musk - Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect comments on Senate and House leaders - and on the recent administration attacks on the NLRB. Also: Trump’s strategy of flooding the zone with executive actions is intended to paralyze the opposition. But there’s lots of g…

This week's popular outrage over Trump's stopping funding of all social programs forced him to throw in the towel after just a few hours - demonstrating how weak he is, and how powerful the opposition can be. John Nichols comments. Also: The battle to get us to pay attention: Chris Hayes explains--His new book is "The Siren's Call." Plus: Your Minn…

How did we get here, with Trump returning to the White House? Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect comments on the 93 million people who could have voted – but didn’t –and on Trump’s Day One executive orders. Also: Now that Trump is preparing to round up and deport undocumented residents, we want to thank them for everything they’ve done to mak…

As we prepare for Trump to take office next week, we're getting ready to challenge him and his people in the upcoming elections later this year. But before that, we have an important election in the next few weeks: the Democratic National Committee will elect a new chair on February 1 to prepare for the battles and the campaigns to come – John Nich…

Trump has come out in favor of combining many of his biggest priorities into one big budget reconciliation bill – because the budget reconciliation impacts the economy, this bill is not subject to filibuster by the Democrats; so, it could pass the Senate with 50 Republican votes. But some Republicans are likely to resist – Harold Meyerson comments.…

A fight has broken out between Elon Musk and the MAGA activists and base about immigration – specifically, over H-1B visas. But what exactly IS an H-1B visa; and why is there so much heat around the issue? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s famous 900 page book, is partly “too dumb to accomplish anything at all”…

Donald Trump has been bad for America but good for American book publishers. Now that Trump is coming back we look at what the best of those books had to say about him, also, the worst: Also, Melania has published a memoir: “Melania,” where she revisits plagiarizing Michelle Obama for her 2016 RNC convention speech, and wearing that jacket that sai…

Disney unions won the biggest ever back pay settlement, and Amazon drivers in the Southland are going on strike this week - Harold Meyerson reports on the class struggle in Southern California. Also: Bob Dylan fans have been puzzled and troubled by his Christmas album ever since he released it in 2009. To help figure out what Dylan was doing, we tu…

Workers in Los Angeles and Wisconsin made major gains this week, while the NLRB is falling into Trump's hands, thanks to Joe Manchin & Kyrsten Sinema -- Harold Meyerson reports. Also: a new episode of “The Children’s Hour,” Amy Wilentz reports on “Lives of the In-Laws”—Ivanka’s father-in-law, and Tiffany’s -- and comments also on the rise of Trump'…

The GOP majority in the House will be 217-to 215 Dems – for months, until special elections in April bring it up to 220. What are the odds odds that House Republicans will be 100% united when Trump sends them his key legislation? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: “Our worst enemy right now is not Trump himself, but fatalism about our ability to stop …

Trump's terrible cabinet picks – what if the Democrats use these remaining two months to hold their own confirmation hirings? Also, are Democrats out of touch with the American people? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: A lot of people who voted for abortion rights referenda this year also voted for Trump. What were they thinking? How do they understa…

Trump's initial nominees include Matt Gaetz for Attorney General – "the group that is probably most elated by this are his fellow Republican House members who hate his guts" – Harold Meyerson discusses Trump's crazy cabinet. Also: Hope does not mean saying ‘this is not bad,’ Rebecca Solnit argues; it just means we will not give up—because we know t…

Big Picture: Trump won a landslide in the electoral college and control of the Senate; control of the House is unclear at this point. So much good work went into fighting Trump; but, a majority of voters know who Trump is and chose him. So, how did we get here? And, what do we do next? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: John Nichols looks at the elect…

If Harris wins Pennsylvania – a predominately working-class state – she probably wins the election; so, what could be the most effective closing argument to convince working-class voters there to vote for Harris? New research by The Center for Working-Class Politics tested messages and found that the strongest one singles out corporations for raisi…

World famous gambling and entertainment hub Las Vegas, Nevada is also home to one of the "the most politically potent" unions in the United States, representing hotel casino workers there: Culinary Union Local 226 -- Harold Meyerson traveled to Las Vegas to find out what this powerful union is doing to help "push Kamala over the top". Also: Latino …

One in six voters, pollsters say, are “still unsure of their choice.” What do people mean when they say they are “undecided”? Rick Perlstein says political writers have failed to understand the undecideds—and what Kamala might do to win their votes. Also: Democrat Marie Gleusenkamp Perez won a House seat in a Trump district, pointing the way for ot…

Kamala has been showing up: from "Call Her Daddy" – a podcast popular among young woman, to "The Howard Stern Show" – popular among young men; to "The View" and "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" – Harold Meyerson comments on Kamala's media blitz. Also: The polls have had disastrous failures for decades, but people continue to focus on them; Rick…

If the election were to happen today, polls point to 276 for Kamala; 262 for Trump. Also: The vice presidential debate – "Walz, who was plainly unaccustomed to dealing with such adept obfuscation, particularly when couched in Vance’s one-night-only dulcet tones" writes Harold Meyerson in The Prospect; so, what did Walz win? Harold Meyerson comments…

The polls right now show Kamala would win the electoral college if the election were held today--Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Trump Media stock - it's sinking fast. Plus: Trump has canceled his plan to visit Springfield, Ohio, but his lie about Haitian immigrants there eating cats and dogs continues to ricochet around the American political worl…