‘REBELLION’?: Courts Weigh Oregon, Illinois Arguments Against Trump’s National Guard Deployments

Two federal courts heard arguments Thursday about President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to quell unrest near U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in Portland, Oregon, and Chicago. “The district court found that the Portland ICE facility protests were small—less than 30 people—largely sedate and generally peaceful,” Oregon Assistant Attorney General Stacy Chaffin told the three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The hearing was held remotely by video.  Two of the judges, Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade, are Trump appointees. Another judge, Susan Graber,…

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Roundup: Dem Base Rallies Leaders to Stay Strong on Health Care Against the GOP as Shutdown Looms

See coverage in AP, Axios, Huffington Post, The Guardian, Politico  WASHINGTON – MoveOn Civic Action continues to encourage Congressional Democrats to stand united by refusing to agree to a government funding plan as long as ACA premium subsidies are on the chopping block and without any concessions from Trump and Republicans to reverse their massive healthcare cuts from the summer. Earlier this month, MoveOn sent a memo to Democratic leadership and appropriation chairs from Executive Director Katie Bethell conveying the grassroots will have their back if they keep their word…

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Grassroots campaign puts pressure on Congress to pass ‘Pay Our Troops Act’

An advocacy group representing service members and their families nationwide has launched a campaign encouraging the public to contact their members of Congress in support of the Pay Our Troops Act of 2026.  The National Military Family Association says more than 10,000 letters have already been sent to Congress through its Military Family Action Center, urging lawmakers to pass the bill that would ensure that troops, Defense Department civilians and Coast Guard members continue to receive pay and benefits during this shutdown. The advocacy group made it easy for the…

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The Project 2025 Shutdown Is Here

This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. Thirty-four days into the previous government shutdown, in 2019, reporters asked President Donald Trump if he had a message for the thousands of federal employees who were about to miss another paycheck. “I love them. I respect them. I really appreciate the great job they’re doing,” he said at the time. The following day, caving after weeks of punishing cable-news coverage, he signed legislation to reopen the government, lauding furloughed employees as “incredible…

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An Unexpected Line in the Sand

There has been talk for millennia about the wheat and the tares and the eventual separation of the two that Jesus foretold. I don’t know if that separation is happening in the ultimate sense right now, but something is happening and it is significantly unsettling. I admit, I thought any major, society-wide division would be on more nuanced grounds. The brashness of the current situation surprises me. There seems to be a division arising between those who endorse murder and those who do not. I’m not talking about taking someone’s…

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