For months, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, had championed legislation to send additional security aid to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion. The proposal, however, was stuck: House Republican leaders refused to consider it, and so the bill languished.

Last month, however, it became unstuck: Proponents of the legislation managed to go around the GOP leadership thanks to a discharge petition — a tactic that allows members to bring a bill to the floor if it’s formally endorsed by a majority of the House. As MS NOW reported last week, the Ukraine aid package cleared the House with 226 votes, including 18 Republicans.

This week, it happened again. NBC News reported:

The House tonight passed another Democrat-led bill that made its way to the floor after a group of Republicans bucked their party’s leadership and joined Democrats in forcing a vote.

The Faster Labor Contracts Act, which would force employers to start negotiating with a newly certified union within 10 days of receiving the request, passed with the support of 20 Republicans and all Democrats.

Critics will note that both this bill and the Ukraine aid still have to clear the Senate, where the measures’ fate remains uncertain, and they would still need Donald Trump’s signature to become law. It’s a fair point.

But let’s not miss the forest for the trees. Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania said in an online written statement, “If the House Floor was managed properly, discharge petitions would never be needed. A successful discharge petition is clear and direct evidence of a poorly managed House Floor — because it demonstrates that the will of the majority of the People is being thwarted by the privileged few.”

Fitzpatrick didn’t mention House Speaker Mike Johnson by name, but given the context, he didn’t have to.

Indeed, it might not be immediately obvious just how embarrassing these latest developments are for the Louisiana Republican and his leadership team.

In the past century or so, successful discharge petitions have been very rare. The reason is simple: Such petitions have long been seen as a slap in the face of a sitting House speaker.

As New York magazine’s Ed Kilgore recently explained, “Indeed, prior to Johnson’s ascent to the Speakership, only two 21st-century discharge petitions achieved the 218 signatures needed to trigger a floor vote.”

This roughly once-per-decade average has undergone a dramatic revision under the Louisiana Republican’s tenure. In the last Congress, which ended in early January 2025, there were two successful discharge petitions, which was itself a significant total. Meanwhile, in the current Congress, which is far from over, there have been six successful discharge petitions, which The Hill accurately described as “extraordinary.”

The first came in March 2025, and it dealt with proxy voting for new parents serving in Congress. In November 2025, another discharge petition advanced the Epstein Files Transparency Act; five days later, a measure to repeal an executive order that gutted federal workers’ union rights also received 218 signatures.

The list grew longer as discharge petitions related to extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, providing temporary protected status for Haitian migrants and extending aid to Ukraine all crossed the necessary threshold.

Usually, members embarrass Johnson by ignoring his wishes and voting against legislation he has urged them to support. But this flurry of successful discharge petitions, which has no modern precedent, makes the House speaker appear even more diminished.

Kilgore’s recent piece added, “Signs of weakness invite further revolts by House members who fear voters more than this mild-mannered former backbencher from Louisiana, whose authority is totally dependent on Trump’s backing, which can be erratic during times when the president is distracted by nonlegislative matters like ending wars and naming things after himself. Politicians, like guard dogs, can smell fear and irresolution.”

The question, then, is less whether we’ll see more successful discharge petitions and more a question of when, as Johnson’s weak hold on power unravels further.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

The post The more lawmakers go around Mike Johnson, the more obvious his weakness becomes appeared first on MS NOW.

During an Oval Office event on Wednesday afternoon, a reporter asked Donald Trump for his reaction to the news that inflation has reached a three-year high. The president responded that the new data was “great,” adding, “I love the inflation.”

And while that was strange, it quickly got worse. As part of his explanation for why he professed his “love” of inflation, Trump went on to say, “You know, I can say it now, something you didn’t know. You know we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran — until right now.”

He said this operation involved 22 ships that traveled “with no lights” and went undetected because Iranians “don’t have any radar because we blasted the crap out of it.”

Even at face value, this was difficult to understand. The president loves inflation because the United States is taking oil out of the Middle East?

Complicating matters, there was also uncertainty about the nature and accuracy of Trump’s claims, even within his own White House Cabinet. MS NOW reported as part of the network’s liveblog coverage:

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who was simultaneously testifying before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, told lawmakers that he did not know of any such operation.

Wright said he was not aware of “millions” of barrels of oil having been extracted from Iran, but he said earlier in the hearing that the U.S. military ‌had ⁠helped get some oil out of the Strait of Hormuz.

As a rule, Wright can be counted on to toe the party line on pretty much anything Trump says, but when pressed by Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes of Ohio on the president’s public comments, Wright said Trump was merely “talking casually.”

SYKES: *plays audio of Trump claiming US is stealing Iranian oil*WRIGHT: I think the president is talking casually SYKES: Do you think that it's appropriate to 'talk casually' about war?WRIGHT: I think you talk to all different audiences and you talk in all different styles

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-10T18:22:57.391Z

When Sykes followed up by asking about the propriety of a president speaking “casually” about a war, the energy secretary was reduced to saying, “I think you talk to all different audiences, and you talk in all different styles.”

What did that mean in this context? Your guess is as good as mine. It’s similarly unclear whether Wright’s use of the word “casually” was meant to convey the idea that sometimes Trump just says stuff without any meaningful regard for accuracy.

That said, it’s certainly possible that 22 ships moved through the Strait of Hormuz. The New York Times noted, however, “He did not say what time period he meant. Ordinarily, dozens of oil tankers would pass through the strait each day, and thousands would have done so since the war began, if not for Iran’s blockade.”

The post Energy secretary says Trump was speaking ‘casually’ with claim about taking out oil appeared first on MS NOW.

Donald Trump’s recent record on U.S. attorneys and other federal prosecutors is a rather embarrassing mess. Some of the Republican lawyers have been purged for political reasons, some have resigned and some were forced out by the courts.

But perhaps most important of all are the president’s prosecutors who have actually tried to do their jobs in line with the White House’s agenda.

In Nevada, Sigal Chattah, a member of the Republican National Committee, has led a U.S. attorney’s office for the last year, and according to a Bloomberg Law report published last week, she’s used her office to “launch investigations at the behest of former clients and friends,” and also “opened a probe targeting her past political foe.”

In Illinois, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ tenure has become highly controversial, as evidenced by the intensifying mess surrounding his office’s handling of the “Broadview Six” case.

In Wyoming, interim U.S. Attorney for Wyoming Darin Smith botched some criminal cases so badly that federal judges had to intervene. (Senate Republicans soon after rewarded Smith with a lifetime appointment to the federal bench.)

But let’s also not overlook Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney who’s leading the office in the Central District of California.

Essayli, a former Republican state lawmaker, has cultivated quite a reputation, reportedly ignoring the recommendations of senior prosecutors and demanding that the office pursue MAGA-aligned cases without regard for insufficient evidence. Last year, he also dropped a fraud case against a fast-food chain owner who just happened to be a major Trump donor.

This week, Essayli apparently thought it’d be a good idea to appear on Glenn Beck’s program, where he vowed to bring criminal charges in “one to two months” related to his party’s conspiracy theories regarding California elections. The Republican prosecutor seemed to suggest that he hasn’t yet collected real evidence, though he apparently plans to address this problem by turning to the public for help. The New Republic reported:

First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli — who oversees 500 attorneys — went on The Glenn Beck Program on Monday to beg listeners to help him find evidence of election fraud.

“I expect people will be charged. … We have set up a tipline. I’ve set up a dedicated email. … We are looking for any sort of widescale conspiracy, if you will. … If anyone knows anything … if you’ve witnessed anything … if you saw someone collecting ballots in a suspicious way, or doing something odd with ballots, we wanna know about that.”

The circumstances were, among other things, bizarre. Federal prosecutors rarely appear on programs such as Beck’s; they almost never predict future prosecutions against alleged criminals who haven’t yet been identified; and it’s even more unusual for them to effectively try to crowdsource evidence collection.

What’s more, this is not a comprehensive list. Other Trump-appointed prosecutors in other jurisdictions have failed in other embarrassing ways.

The longer the list becomes, the worse it is for the rule of law and law enforcement. If you voted for the Republican ticket because you expected Trump and his team to be “tough on crime,” I have some bad news for you.

The post Trump-appointed federal prosecutor seeks public help on election conspiracy theories appeared first on MS NOW.

In the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, Senate Republican leaders knew that Donald Trump was pressuring their members to reject certification of Joe Biden’s victory, but they pleaded with GOP senators to discard the outgoing president’s wishes. In fact, Senate Republican leaders told members there wasn’t even any point in trying, since the radical scheme wouldn’t work anyway.

Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the then-majority whip, publicly conceded in December 2020 that the plan to reject election certification “would go down like a shot dog.”

Trump wasn’t pleased. In fact, the defeated president labeled Thune a “RINO” — “Republican in Name Only” — on social media, adding, “South Dakota doesn’t like weakness. He will be primaried in 2022, political career over!!!”

In 2022, Thune ran unopposed — in both the primary and the general election. What’s more, his career was far from over, and he became the Senate majority leader early last year.

In 2026, there’s a relative détente between Thune and Trump, though in recent weeks, it’s become increasingly clear the two Republican leaders are not on the same page.

“Thune has to say ‘no’ to Trump a lot,” Punchbowl News reported. “And second-term Trump clearly doesn’t like this at all.”

Consider the developments from the past few weeks:

• Trump tapped Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence, and Thune made his dissatisfaction known.
• Trump announced a $1.776 billion compensation fund, widely panned as a “slush fund,” and Thune told reporters he was “not a fan” of the provisionally discarded idea.
• Trump endorsed Ken Paxton in Texas’ Senate race, and Thune again made his dissatisfaction known.
• Trump peddled new election conspiracy theories, and Thune said anyone touting such theories needs to “prove if there was cheating.”
• Trump told Thune to fire Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, to eliminate the filibuster, to end the chamber’s “blue-slip” practice and to pass the anti-voting SAVE America Act — and Thune ignored all these directions.

To be sure, the president hasn’t thrown any recent tantrums about the South Dakotan, but with the way things are going, it’s hard not to wonder if the dam might soon break.

The post With increasing frequency, GOP’s Thune and Trump are not on the same page appeared first on MS NOW.

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* In South Carolina’s gubernatorial race, Republican primary voters advanced Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson to a runoff. That’s notable in its own right, though it was also of interest to see who didn’t make the cut.

Among those who fell short were two incumbent GOP members of Congress, Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace, the latter of whom finished an embarrassing fifth. They join a growing group of incumbent members of Congress who gave up their House seats to seek statewide office, only to fall short in party primaries.

Among Republicans, the list includes Texas’ Wesley Hunt and Chip Roy, Georgia’s Buddy Carter and Iowa’s Randy Feenstra. Among Democrats, Texas’ Jasmine Crockett, Illinois’ Raja Krishnamoorthi and Illinois’ Robin Kelly are in the same unfortunate club.

As Punchbowl News summarized, “It’s a tried-and-tested strategy: Spend a couple of terms in the House, build up political support and then run for statewide office. But this election cycle has been rough for House lawmakers seeking promotions.”

* In Texas’ closely watched Senate race, the latest statewide poll, commissioned by the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M, found Democratic state Rep. James Talarico with a narrow lead over Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton, 47% to 44%.

* Last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Nancy Lacore, a three-star admiral and former chief of the Navy Reserve. This year, Lacore is running for Congress as a Democrat, and this week, she won a primary in the race to succeed Mace.

* California’s gubernatorial race is officially set: Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News personality, finished second in the first round of balloting and will face Xavier Becerra, a former Democratic congressman who served as Joe Biden’s health secretary, in the fall.

* Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has backed several progressive candidates in recent months, and his preferred candidates have fared quite well in a variety of Democratic primaries nationwide.

* American Bridge, a prominent super PAC aligned with Democratic politics, announced this week that it’s kicking off a roughly $50 million ad campaign targeting Republicans in more than a dozen House districts and four Senate races.

* And in Alaska’s closely watched Senate race, the newest candidate, a man named Dan Sullivan, continues to make clear that he’s serious about his candidacy despite the fact that he shares a name with Sen. Dan Sullivan, the Republican incumbent.

The post Wednesday’s Campaign Round-Up, 6.10.26: House members fail again in bids for higher office appeared first on MS NOW.

There was an unintentionally funny scene on Capitol Hill this week when Republican Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia pretended to have a phone conversation to avoid a question that he apparently didn’t want to answer. It was a reminder that Wittman appears to have missed his calling as a professional actor, since he really committed to the bit.

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) faked a phone call for roughly 90 seconds after being asked about Speaker Mike Johnson’s comments regarding potential Social Security cuts.

The phone's screen remained visible, with his cheek inadvertently tapping different parts of the display. pic.twitter.com/y3ST5AX651

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) June 10, 2026

Just as notable as Wittman’s odd performance, however, was the question the congressman was trying to avoid. Specifically, he was asked about provocative comments House Speaker Mike Johnson made a day earlier, which have started generating additional attention. The Washington Post reported:

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) suggested Monday that he would release a plan next year to address ballooning entitlement spending, leading to Democratic attacks.

“The reason we are in trouble is because over 74 percent of federal spending is on autopilot, mandatory spending,” Johnson told a Louisiana radio station. “That’s your entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and then things like Social Security. They have to be adjusted and fixed.”

As part of the same on-air interview, Congress’ top Republican lawmaker added, “We have a plan to do that next year.”

To be fair, Johnson didn’t say a word about what’s in his “plan,” so it’s impossible to say whether and how he and other GOP officials would cut these popular social insurance programs.

But therein lies the problem: To hear the House speaker tell it, Republicans already have a plan related to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, although Johnson suggested the party won’t pursue its goals until 2027, presumably in the hope that the GOP holds onto its narrow majority on Capitol Hill.

The follow-up question is obvious: Why wait? If Republicans have a plan, why not share it and talk about its merits?

Indeed, in an American Civics 101 sort of way, Johnson should want to present his vision, on the promise of pursuing it in the next Congress. If the public approves of the plan, voters can back GOP candidates in the midterm elections, and Johnson can try to make the case early next year that his party’s agenda has a popular mandate.

Unless, that is, the House speaker believes Americans won’t like his plan, which is why he wants to keep it under wraps until after Election Day has come and gone.

For those who actually care about the future of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, Johnson’s apparent reluctance to share the details of his plan isn’t exactly reassuring.

The post Speaker Johnson eyes a new ‘plan’ for Social Security and Medicare to be shared in 2027 appeared first on MS NOW.

💾

As 2026 got underway and much of the country was mortified by the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, the public backlash was swift and quantifiable. An Economist/YouGov poll found that a 47% plurality of Americans said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was making Americans less safe, while a 46% plurality said ICE should be abolished altogether.

A Quinnipiac poll released at about the same time found that 57% of Americans disapproved of the way ICE was enforcing immigration laws.

The need for reform seemed obvious. In fact, an NBC News poll released in February found that almost 3 in 4 U.S. adults supported either “reforming” or “abolishing” the agency.

Democratic officials seized on those public attitudes and demanded that Congress impose new restrictions and safeguards on federal immigration agencies as part of pending spending bills that fund ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Four months later, the Republican majority ignored the polls, circumvented Democratic lawmakers and narrowly approved a spending package that will fund ICE and CBP for the remainder of Donald Trump’s second term, throwing an additional $70 billion at immigration enforcement. (The party used the budget reconciliation process, which prevented Senate Democrats from imposing a 60-vote threshold in the upper chamber.)

GOP leaders beat back efforts to include a provision formally killing off the idea of a White House compensation fund, but that wasn’t the only thing missing from the package: The legislation includes literally nothing in the way of new safeguards or restrictions on federal immigration agencies or their enforcement tactics.

In other words, polls showed strong public support for changes to the status quo. Republicans decided they did not care.

In a written statement, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said, “House Republicans are choosing to hand over $70 billion more in taxpayer dollars to fund ICE and Border Patrol’s chaos in our communities. This is on top of the $140 billion they already gave ICE in their ‘Big, Ugly Bill.’ MAGA Republicans refused to negotiate on popular and essential reforms to responsibly enforce our immigration laws while respecting the civil liberties of our people. I voted hell no.”

The Maryland congressman added, “ICE and Border Patrol aren’t targeting ‘the worst of the worst.’ College students, nurses, babies and children, pregnant women, cancer patients, and even American citizens have been rounded up in their lawless, brutal raids. This corrupt agency is making all of us less safe. We need affordable health care, not an open money spigot for ICE corruption and masked federal agents killing American citizens and disappearing our neighbors from the streets.”

The president is expected to sign the package into law, probably as early as Wednesday.

The post Republicans ignore public calls for reforms, throw another $70 billion at ICE and CPB appeared first on MS NOW.

The specific details of what transpired on Monday are still coming into focus, but according to U.S. Central Command, an Army AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed off the coast of Oman and the two crew members on board were rescued and are in stable condition. Whether the incident was the result of a deliberate Iranian attack is the subject of some debate.

The Trump administration accused Iran of downing the helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, while officials in Tehran said it was instead caught in the crossfire of drone attacks against commercial vessels.

Of particular interest, though, was Donald Trump’s reaction. On Tuesday morning, the president spoke to The Wall Street Journal and downplayed the importance of the incident. In fact, according to the Journal’s article, the Republican “repeatedly” said the downing of the helicopter “wasn’t a big deal.”

It soon became a very big deal, indeed.

A few hours after the president told the Journal that the incident wasn’t especially important, he used his social media platform to announce that Iranians “shot down” a U.S. helicopter, which would necessitate a military response. With this in mind, MS NOW reported overnight:

The United States military said it completed its latest round of strikes on Iran on Tuesday following the earlier downing of a U.S. helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command announced.

The Associated Press reported that Iran said it retaliated with attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait and claimed it targeted a military base in Jordan that hosts U.S. forces. Jordan later confirmed that it had shot down five missiles.

We remain in the middle of a ceasefire in which the fire hasn’t ceased.

Why did Trump go from “repeatedly” saying the downing of the helicopter “wasn’t a big deal” to approving another round of military strikes? The Wall Street Journal went on to report that it was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine who recommended additional military action, which led the president to change his mind. (This reporting has not been independently verified by MS NOW.)

As for the road forward, early Tuesday, Trump said that a deal to end the war could be reached “in two or three days.” Roughly 24 hours later, the American president said largely the opposite, writing online, “Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess. Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore — They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”

This didn’t make a whole lot of sense — it was weird to see Trump claim that Iran is powerless and “all talk and no action” while also accusing it of having “shot down” a U.S. helicopter — though the combination of military strikes and mixed messages once again suggest the end point to the conflict is not near.

The post Trump peddles more mixed messages after accusing Iran of downing a U.S. helicopter appeared first on MS NOW.

For months, Donald Trump and White House officials had a habit of insisting that the president had delivered an economy with “no inflation.” The public has heard a lot less such talk lately, and there’s no great mystery as to why. CNBC reported:

The consumer price index, a broad gauge of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.5% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 4.2%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Both numbers were in line with the Dow Jones consensus.

Inflation climbed above 4% for the first time in three years, though the increase met expectations amid concerns over how much the surge in energy prices would impact the economy. The level was the highest since April 2023 and above the 3.8% level from April.

The figures were entirely in line with a variety of related metrics related to the rising cost of living, including the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the core personal consumption expenditures price index and wholesale prices, all of which recently hit three-year highs.

All that related data, incidentally, was released shortly before White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told Fox News that Trump had transformed the U.S. into an “extraordinary paradise.”

Asked for his reaction to the developments, Trump said the latest inflation data was “great,” adding, “I love the inflation.” (He went on to claim that his love for inflation is based on a secret program that takes Iranian oil. It’s unclear whether that program exists in reality.)

Q: Are you concerned about the latest inflation numbers that came out this morning?TRUMP: No, I love it. I love the inflation. You know why? Because as soon as this war is over — do you know we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil? You know who doesn't know? Iran until right now.

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-10T16:08:03.927Z

As for what’s driving the discouraging data, it is — to the surprise of no one — energy costs that are pushing prices higher, which is the direct result of the war with Iran.

Perhaps most importantly, NBC News’ report emphasized that inflation’s rise “has surpassed wage growth,” which necessarily exacerbates the affordability crisis gripping American consumers.

Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council and the top economist at the White House, has argued in recent weeks that rising inflation should be blamed on Democratic policies in blue states. Those claims, like much of what Hassett has to say, have been thoroughly discredited.

And no one is buying it. The latest national CNN poll found that 77% of respondents, including a majority of Republican voters, agreed that Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living. The same poll found that just 30% of Americans approve of the president’s handling of the economy, a career low for the Republican across both terms. That mirrored the results of the latest national Associated Press poll.

There’s no reason to assume those results won’t continue to get even worse.

This post, which updates our related earlier coverage, has been revised to include the quote from Trump..

The post Trump professes his ‘love’ of inflation as consumer costs reach a 3-year high appeared first on MS NOW.

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* The latest on the downed helicopter: “President Donald Trump blamed Iran for downing a U.S. Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday and said the United States must respond to the attack. A drone boat rescued two Army aviators who were aboard the Apache attack helicopter when it went down near the waterway that Iran has effectively closed during its war with the U.S. and Israel. Trump said in a social media post that both service members ‘are safe and uninjured.’”

* It would be great if this were true, but hasn’t he said the same thing too many times before? “U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that, despite the exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel, a deal to end the war in the Middle East could be reached ‘in two or three days.’”

* Meanwhile, in Lebanon: “Israeli airstrikes pummeled the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens more, in the latest sign that a new U.S.-brokered cease-fire has failed to take hold.”

* On Capitol Hill: “The House on Tuesday narrowly voted to take up Republicans’ $70 billion immigration enforcement bill, clearing a key hurdle to enacting the measure to fund President Trump’s deportation crackdown through the end of his term. The vote was 213-211 along party lines, with every Democrat opposed. A final vote on the legislation, which if passed would go to Mr. Trump’s desk, was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.”

* A staggering statistic: “In the first years after birth, the human brain develops at a remarkable pace. Every second, more than a million new neural connections spring into being, shaping a person’s physical and emotional health for the rest of their life. Since the Trump administration entered the White House last year, at least 500 babies and toddlers have spent some of that pivotal time in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

* Speaking of ICE: “Mismanagement at a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas created unsafe conditions that contributed to detainee deaths and suffering even as millions of wasted tax dollars enriched contractors, according to a federal report released Tuesday.”

* In case this isn’t obvious, 2032 is during the next president’s term: “Social Security ’s retirement trust fund is projected to face a funding shortfall in 2032, a year earlier than last year’s projections, according to an annual report released Tuesday, while Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits in 2033, which is unchanged from last year’s estimate.”

* Trump-appointed judges aren’t just wrong when issuing rulings: “A judge on the largest U.S. federal appeals court is facing a judicial misconduct inquiry after news reports over the weekend revealed that he had been criminally ​charged over a parking lot dispute in Idaho in April. Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Mary Murguia of the 9th ‌U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an order released on Monday said she had initiated a judicial misconduct complaint against U.S. Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson after he was hit with misdemeanor charges of battery and malicious injury to property on April 22.”

See you tomorrow.

The post Tuesday’s Mini-Report, 6.9.26 appeared first on MS NOW.