Politics | Voter.org

Steve Bannon and the Murderers and Hitmen Who Became His ‘Besties’

October 21, 2025 became, Steve, Bannon, Murderers, Hitmen, ‘Besties’0 comment

This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. The adult-education program at Federal Correctional Institution Danbury needed a civics teacher. Conveniently, a new prisoner with a history of intimate involvement in American politics—inmate No. 05635-509—needed a work assignment. And that is how Steve Bannon, the man who stood accused of helping orchestrate an effort to undermine American democracy and to overturn a presidential election, found himself on the federal payroll making 25 cents an hour teaching civics to fellow convicts. Bannon’s…

American Infrastructure Is About to Get Even Worse

October 17, 2025 about, American, even, worse, infrastructure0 comment

In what appears to be a case of extreme political hardball, the Trump administration has frozen funding for two of the most important infrastructure projects in the country, both based in New York City: the construction of new tunnels to carry trains under the Hudson River, known as the Gateway project, and the extension of Manhattan’s Second Avenue Subway. The White House’s decision, announced during the government shutdown, seems designed to put pressure on Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leaders in the Senate and House respectively, who both…

‘It’s Never Been This Bad’

October 13, 2025 It's, been, Never, 'Bad, This0 comment

Since immigration-enforcement agents began their descent on Chicago, acting with seemingly unprecedented speed and ferocity, Evelyn Vargas and her colleagues at Organized Communities Against Deportation have been in a frenzy. They help run an emergency hotline that refers people who have been detained to immigration lawyers and directs their families to support services such as food pantries, emergency housing, and mental-health care. (On a single day last week, it took 800 calls.) And they oversee a team of 35 “rapid responders” who have been sprinting across the city to film…

Trump’s Nobel Thirst Is Actually Great for the World

October 9, 2025 World, Actually, trumps, great, Nobel, Thirst0 comment

“I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize,” the comedian Steven Wright once joked. This may be unironically true of President Donald Trump. But of course you are not meant to kill for this award. And because the prize cannot be won through threats, bribery, or any of Trump’s other customary tools, his only remaining avenue is to actually encourage peace. Which, amazingly enough, appears to be happening. The newly announced agreement between Israel and Hamas may or may not develop into a genuine peace deal. At a minimum, however, it…

The Project 2025 Shutdown Is Here

October 5, 2025 Here, shutdown, 2025, Project0 comment

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…

How Democrats Backed Themselves Into a Shutdown

October 1, 2025 Democrats, into, shutdown, backed, themselves0 comment

This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. The government shutdown that began at 12:01 a.m. is the sixth such closure in the past three decades. It was easily the most foreseeable. That congressional Democrats would force this confrontation became clear almost from the moment they ducked a clash over spending with Republicans in March. Back then, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer convinced just enough of his members that a government shutdown would empower President Donald Trump to govern even more…