Anyone who was expecting the Republican-controlled Congress to provide meaningful checks and balances on Donald Trump’s administration is in for a rude awakening, courtesy of House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). Trump’s cabinet nominees have recently come under fire for failing to file their disclosure paperwork with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), and Senate […]

In a powerful statement on Attorney General-designate and her Senate colleague Jeff Sessions, Senator Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq veteran, shared her deep reservations about Sessions’ commitment to protecting disability rights. As an American living with disabilities, my life isn’t like many of my colleagues’ in Congress. Getting around can be difficult; you saw what […]

The Trump administration was already in a panic over the revelation that they colluded with the FBI to push back on reports of Trump campaign contacts with Russia, and that they enlisted Republicans from key committees to assist in that effort. The latest bombshell demonstrates the degree to which White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer […]

One of the most powerful moments of CNN’s town hall event with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) was former Obamacare opponent Jeff Jeans’ moving tale of discovering he had treatable cancer, but could only receive treatment because of the Affordable Care Act. Jeans even took the moment to thank President Obama: TAPPER: He […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, billionaire school “reform” activist Betsy DeVos, evinced a number of confounding and troubling views at her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, including that schools should allow guns to protect students from grizzly bears; a clear lack of understanding of the difference between student proficiency and student growth; and a refusal to say whether […]

On the heels of Donald Trump’s completely fabricated allegation that President Obama ordered wiretaps on Trump Tower during the presidential campaign, the White House has doubled down by demanding a congressional investigation of that lie. The White House has also tellingly — for the second week in a row — made only one administration official, Deputy Press Secretary […]

Republican guests typically dominate the airwaves on the Sunday political shows, including last week, where Vice President Mike Pence was joined by elected Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) on the Sunday circuit. But that dynamic changed sharply this week, with the White House offering only relatively low-wattage senior […]

Those concerned with the undue influence of FBI Director James Comey’s multiple intrusions into the 2016 presidential election will be glad to hear that DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz will be conducting a review of those intrusions, as well as other allegations of improper conduct by the FBI. That review will be bolstered by the fact […]

Concern is mounting that newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump could interfere with, or escape accountability from, investigations into the Russian cyberattacks that influenced his electoral victory. But in an encouraging sign, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA) issued a joint statement promising a full investigation, no […]

In addition to the revelation that Donald Trump’s administration colluded with the FBI to quash a New York Times story about Trump campaign contacts with Russia, it was revealed this week that Republican lawmakers on intelligence committees also participated in that effort. With these revelations has come increased pressure for an independent investigation by a […]

A significant portion of the press conference that President-elect Donald Trump finally held (after a 6-month drought) was eaten up by Trump attorney Sheri Dillon’s explanation of Trump’s plan to address conflicts of interest arising from his business holdings. And since that press conference, ethics experts on all sides have denounced the plan as essentially […]

Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA Director, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS), faced the Senate intelligence committee on Thursday morning in a relatively short two and a half hour hearing, during which numerous Senators noted that they were saving certain questions for a later, closed hearing. But when it was Senator Angus King’s (I-ME) turn to ask questions, […]

Obamacare is increasingly popular, and Republicans are increasingly desperate to conceal their plans to repeal it — most recently going so far as to hide draft legislation in a sealed room in the basement of the U.S. Capitol. While at least one Republican on Capitol Hill, Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), is well enough in touch with her constituents […]

On the heels of President-elect Donald Trump’s utterly meaningless plan to “resolve” conflict of interest concerns, Housing and Urban Development Secretary-designate Ben Carson’s testimony at his confirmation hearing is all the more concerning. On Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) asked Carson if he could assure Americans that “not a single taxpayer dollar that you give […]

The American people are making their voices heard, and it is already getting results. Communications Director for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reports an average of 1.5 million calls per day this week, and says you can tell “they’re working” by watching the activity on the floor of the Senate: #Senate offices are being […]

During his confirmation hearing to head the CIA, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) was asked by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) if he would comply if Donald Trump asked him to reinstate torture. “Absolutely not,” he replied. Pompeo’s answer signified a major break with Trump, who bluntly advocated resuming the use of waterboarding and “much worse” in […]

Donald Trump has taken numerous actions to limit civil rights and civil liberties. From revoking people’s visas based on their religion, to letting states block minorities from voting, to banning news outlets from his press functions, if he dislikes their coverage of him and his many scandals. Trump has all the makings of an authoritarian leader. And recent […]

After Senate Republicans schemed to protect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees from ethics scrutiny, fast-tracking their confirmation hearings, they continued their brazen campaign to assist Trump’s dreadful nominees by limiting Senate Democrats’ questions, and the time in which they had to ask them, at Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos’ hearing. Ahead of the hearing, the […]

Through two days of tough questions during his confirmation hearings as President-elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson was challenged on his ties to Russia and views on climate change, as well as his opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his human rights record. Many of his responses were concerning to those who […]

Politico reports that the draft legislation leaked to them of the GOP’s plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act “would take down the foundation of Obamacare,” including the individual mandate that has funded insurance coverage for millions, and subsidies for poor people. Republicans are already on the record affirming many of the principles […]

Watch Jessi Bohon take on Tennessee Representative Diane Black (and read the full transcript below): Seriously urge everyone to watch this entire question from a woman at GOP #Obamacare townhall in Tennessee: pic.twitter.com/8mBGE1z6Rj — MJ Lee (@mj_lee) February 10, 2017 My question is lengthy, OK? So bear with me. My name is Jessi Bohon and I’m […]

Late in the afternoon on January 27th, Donald Trump signed an executive order barring nationals from seven primarily Muslim countries from entering the United States, including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. As of this writing, the order has still not been posted on the White House website, but other news outlets have […]

Shortly after his first meeting with President Obama following the election in November, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would like to keep intact crucial provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including the ban on discriminating against people for pre-existing conditions and the requirement that children be allowed to stay on their parents’ plans until age […]

The fight among Republicans to “repeal and replace” Obamacare is heating up. On one side are people like Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), for whom the secret Republican plan does not go quite far enough in how many people it would throw off of their health coverage. But CNN viewers got a glimpse of another Republican view when Senator […]

This week in the nation’s capital, Donald Trump addressed the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and espoused a notably non-inclusive form of nationalism. In a thinly-veiled reworking of his campaign stump speech, Trump doubled-down on attacking the media as “the enemy of the people,” calling them “liars.” And he yet again attacked Hillary Clinton, smiling as the […]

In May 2016, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper sounded the alarm about “indications” that 2016 political campaigns were being targeted by cyberattacks. He stated that “as the campaigns intensify, we’ll probably have more of those [attempts].” In June, officials at the Democratic National Committee and cyber security experts revealed that the DNC computer network […]

All around the country, those few Republican lawmakers who have deigned to show up for their own town hall meetings have been pushed by angry constituents to seek answers on Donald Trump’s finances. One such lawmaker, first-term congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL), has listened to his constituents and stated at his town hall, to great applause, that he believes Trump should release his tax […]

As we have reported, Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson faces many challenges to his confirmation, and one of the biggest was on full display at Wednesday’s hearing. Despite endorsing now-President-elect Donald Trump after calling him “dangerous” during the presidential campaign, Senator Marco Rubio came out swinging against Tillerson over his ties to Russia. Rubio’s exchanges […]

One of Donald Trump’s key promises upon taking office was to crack down on “sanctuary cities” — jurisdictions which offer protection to undocumented immigrants and forbid law enforcement officials from asking for a person’s immigration status or sharing their local data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Despite the overheated rhetoric, studies show that in sanctuary cities, crime […]

Speaking to a local talk radio show in Alabama, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) said that boisterous town hall meetings are having an effect on Republicans in Congress, noting: “There are a, in my opinion, a significant number of congressmen who are being impacted by these kinds of protests and their spine is a little bit […]