Politics
Bondi dodges Democratic questioning on Comey, Epstein
Rather than addressing questions regarding the alleged weaponization of her justice department, Bondi flipped the script, pointing to instances in which she claimed the Biden administration had politicized the department.
read more
Government shutdown continues as neither party agrees on a resolution
The House of Representatives remains out of session with no end in sight.
read more
Democrats, GOP continue to clash over funding provisions as shutdown enters second day
Congress remains deadlocked over funding provisions as the government shutdown continues, with House members expected to return to Washington DC.
read more
‘Partisan tricks’: One day into shutdown, congressional leaders refuse to budge
Democrats insist Republicans must negotiate on health care issues to reopen the government. For Republicans, there is nothing to negotiate.
read more
Democrats, nonprofits, sound the alarm on First Amendment concerns
Charlie Kirk’s death has become a focal point for discourse on free speech
read moreAs government shutdown looms, Democrats and GOP continue to clash
WASHINGTON — With less than 12 hours left before the new federal fiscal year begins at 12:01 am on Oct.1, the government’s lights are on but flickering as Democrats and Republicans remain at an impasse as a shutdown approaches.
“We are in this fight, until we win this fight,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a joint news conference on Tuesday morning. “We are fighting to lower the cost of living and to protect the health care of everyday Americans.”
Democratic leaders are demanding a reversal of $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill and extending tax credits for the Affordable Care Act — or Obamacare. Republicans are seeking a “clean” Continuing Resolution (CR) bill that would temporarily fund the government until Nov. 21.
There have been a total of 20 government shutdowns. The last shutdown was the longest, continuing for more than 30 days from December 2018 to January 2019 under President Donald Trump’s first administration.
If the Obamacare tax credits expire, millions of Americans will see their premiums increase, and health care providers could face a loss of $32.1 billion in revenue by 2026, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
In the case of a government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed. The White House is recommending that federal agencies consider a “Reduction in Force” during a potential shutdown, according to a memo from the Office of Management and Budget.
On Monday afternoon, President Trump, along with Republican and Democratic leaders, failed to strike an agreement in a last-ditch meeting, leaving the Senate to vote again on the Stopgap bill on Tuesday, which was passed by the House earlier this month. Vice President J.D. Vance told the press after the meeting that Democrats “won’t do the right thing.”
“You don’t use your policy disagreements as leverage not to pay our troops, not to have essential first services of government actually function,” Vance said. “You don’t say the fact that you disagree about a particular tax provision is an excuse for shutting down the people’s government.”
Trump posted a 34-second deepfake AI-generated video online on Monday evening, mocking Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) with racially insensitive imagery, hours after meeting with them. Jeffries condemned the video, calling it “racist” on Tuesday morning.
“Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video,” Jeffries said to the press almost 14 hours before the government shutdown. “When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face.”
Sen. Schumer responded to the video, tweeting, “If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate. You can only throw tantrums.” In addition to this, Schumer also tweeted “No AI necessary,” with an interview snippet of Trump from 2011 on Tuesday morning.
“If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the United States,” Trump said in the video. “He’s the one who has to get people together.”
The Senate plans to vote on the Stopgap bill on Tuesday, starting 5 p.m. As of midday Tuesday, no meeting was scheduled between Democratic and Republican leaders to strike a deal.
Netanyahu-Trump meeting sparks protests outside White House
WASHINGTON — More than 100 demonstrators gathered near the White House Monday evening to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump.
The rally, organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement’s (PYM) local chapter, comes after Netanyahu and Trump announced a plan to end the conflict in Gaza.
PYM chapter organizer Dina Khalil said the group does not support any peace plan without input from Palestinians. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas participated in the development of Trump and Netanyahu’s latest proposal.
Protesters waved Palestinian flags and donned kaffiyehs, the Palestinian checkered scarf. Their chants included “From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever” and “Say it loud and say it clear, Bibi is not welcome here.”
“Satan is in town,” Khalil said of Netanyahu, whose visit was his fourth to the nation’s capital since Trump’s second term began.
International Jewish anti-Zionist organization Neturei Karta also attended the protest, leading chants.
Neturei Karta spokesman Rabbi Dovid Feldman says Netanyahu does not represent the Jewish people and called his behavior “a desecration of our religion.”
“We plead with our president to realize that this is not Judaism,” he said.
About a dozen Trump supporters also gathered at the same location. Some, like conservative activist Cam Higby, wore red “Make America Great Again” caps.
They were met with chants of “shame on you” before police separated them from the group. Throughout the rally, they played songs like the national anthem and “Y.M.C.A.”
“These people support terrorists, and I don’t want them on my streets, but unfortunately, they have the right to do what they’re doing,” Higby said. “These people hate America. I love America, so I’m playing ‘God bless the USA.’”
Pro-Palestinian protester Patti Mohr said she had “traveled a little bit” to attend the gathering, but declined to say from where. She carried a handmade sign that read “Arrest War Criminal Netanyahu Now.”
“I’m here as an American who cares about my country,” she said.
Other attendees were local. Wearing a kaffiyeh draped around his neck, Dantes Augustin said he lived “just up the street.”
Like Mohr, Augustin wasn’t part of a particular group. But he said he supported the PYM and has been attending pro-Palestine protests “since day one.”
“We’re taxpayers,” he said. “We don’t want our money to go to bomb children and women.”
Michigan Democrat to introduce articles of impeachment against RFK Jr
WASHINGTON – Representative Haley Stevens (D–Mich.) announced Thursday that she will introduce articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“Enough is enough,” Stevens said in a statement. “We need leaders who put science over chaos, facts over lies, and people over politics.”
Stevens’ announcement comes after Kennedy’s contentious congressional testimony over vaccine policy, and his linking of Tylenol use and autism without evidence.
In response to Stevens’ plan to file articles of impeachment against Kennedy, HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon told the Medill News Service, “Secretary Kennedy remains focused on the work of improving Americans’ health and lowering costs, not on partisan political stunts.”
In a press release, Stevens refers to Kennedy’s “ongoing efforts to jeopardize public health, increase the cost of healthcare, and cut critical medical research” as key motives behind her push to remove him from office.
“RFK Jr. is making our country less safe and making healthcare less affordable and accessible for Michiganders,” Stevens said in a statement.
According to the press release, Stevens’ articles of impeachment against Kennedy will primarily center on his lying in his confirmation hearing and failing to carry out statutory duties of HHS, as well as his cutting of funds for lifesaving research, restricting access to vaccines and raising healthcare costs.
Some of the points brought up in Stevens’ call to impeach Kennedy also mirror concerns of other members of Congress.
Representative Laura Gillen (D–N.Y.) has spoken out against what she referred to as the “deeply disturbing” federal budget cuts to childhood cancer research – one of the specific actions listed by Stevens for impeachment.
At a press conference on pediatric cancer research cuts last week, Gillen said the cuts were detrimental to America’s image as a leader in healthcare research and innovation and that the only way for the nation to continue to be a “beacon of hope” for medical research is “not by cutting funds to research, but by continuing it.”
Stevens says not only is it bad for America’s image but Kennedy’s actions are “unprecedented, reckless, and dangerous.”
“Secretary Kennedy has violated his oath of office and proven himself unfit to serve the American people,” Stevens said. “Congress must act to hold him accountable, and I intend to lead the charge to remove him from office.”
Stevens has not said when she plans to file the articles against Kennedy. Historically, only two cabinet members have ever been impeached by the House, though neither were convicted by the Senate.
Republicans say ACA subsidies can wait—for millions, the deadline is now
WASHINGTON – Ellen Allen, 64, pays $497 each month for health care through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace. If the Senate doesn’t act by Tuesday, Allen’s monthly premium could skyrocket to $2,800.
“It’s going to take over half of my take-home pay,” Allen said. “Nobody should have that kind of financial strain just to have access to health care.”
Since 2023, Allen has directed West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, a nonprofit aimed at preserving Medicaid funding and educating the state’s residents about health care issues.
In addition, Allen herself benefits from $1,800 each month in enhanced premium tax credits, which allow her insurance company to lower her premium.
First introduced in the 2021 COVID-19 relief package, the enhanced credits expanded eligibility for discounts on ACA — or Obamacare — plans. Democrats argue these enhanced subsidies make health care more affordable for middle-income families.
These subsidies are the lightning rod at the center of congressional Republicans’ and Democrats’ negotiations to avert a government shutdown.
Senate Republicans introduced a bill to fund the government through Nov. 21, which would extend government funding at current levels and increase security funding for lawmakers. Democrats’ proposal would fund the government through Oct. 31, permanently extend the ACA subsidies and reverse nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill.
Democrats’ refusal to vote for any stopgap funding bill that does not extend these subsidies, Republicans argue, will catapult the U.S. into its first shutdown in six years.
Republicans have expressed willingness to negotiate on whether to extend the subsidies before they expire at the end of the year. However, Democrats insist the issue must be addressed sooner, before Americans begin to enroll in plans for 2026.
“This is a matter to be dealt with right now, not at the end of the year,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said at a Friday press conference.
On Wednesday, enrollees will begin receiving renewal notices revealing their premium quotes for next year. Most states begin open enrollment on Nov. 1.
If Congress waits until after Oct. 1 to extend subsidies, uncertain insurers could begin jacking up premiums to account for increased risk, according to Timothy Jost, professor emeritus at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
“When Republican leadership in Congress says, ‘Oh, we’ll look at this later on in the year,’ it’s just too late,” Jost said.
With the fiscal year ending Tuesday, the onus falls on the Senate to reconsider the beleaguered bills and avert a government shutdown.
Jeffries has adopted the slogan “Cancel the cuts, lower the costs, save health care” in recent days to reflect Democrats’ demands.
On Friday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) decried President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel a previously scheduled meeting to discuss the potential shutdown. Trump eventually met with Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday, but they left without a deal. (Isaiah Steinberg/MNS)
Millions of Americans like Allen are caught in the crossfire of the standoff, uncertain whether their premiums will spike as they prepare to select plans.
Holding the government ‘hostage’
For Republicans, however, the Democrats’ refusal to negotiate is reckless.
“It is irresponsible for Democrats to now hold the American people hostage over a program expiring on the very timeline they established,” Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) told Medill News Service in a statement.
Twenty-four million Americans are enrolled in federal and state ACA marketplaces, and many of them receive enhanced premium tax credits, according to forthcoming Kaiser Family Foundation research.
“The Marketplace is becoming a more and more important source of coverage for folks who cannot get other sources of coverage,” said Jared Ortaliza, a policy analyst for the KFF’s Program on the ACA.
Enrollment in the marketplaces has more than doubled since 2020.
If the enhanced subsidies expire, Americans who receive them will see their premiums spike by more than 75% on average, and 4.2 million Americans could become uninsured by 2034.
While Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) acknowledged the impending open enrollment deadline, he told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that the enhanced subsidies were “fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Republicans have repeatedly claimed that wealthy Americans have abused the enhanced subsidies, which Democrats dispute, since eligibility is based on the percentage of household income spent on health insurance.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized a new rule in June aimed at reducing “improper enrollments” by tightening enrollment processes.
Voters overwhelmingly support extending the enhanced subsidies. A June KFF poll found that 77% of Americans, including 63% of Republicans, support extending the credits past this year.
The polling elucidates a shift in Republicans’ opinion toward the ACA.
Republicans have since abandoned full-scale repeal efforts, seeking instead to reform the law as enrollment rates increase among their constituents. Since 2020, 88% of new ACA Marketplace growth has been in states Trump carried in 2024.
Allen lives in the rural town of Pinch, 9 miles outside West Virginia’s capital, Charleston. The state has been a Republican stronghold for a quarter century. Marketplace enrollment in West Virginia jumped 235% in the past five years, third behind only Texas and Mississippi.
Effects on insurers, hospitals
As Republicans continue to portray Democrats’ strategy as reckless, Democrats are betting health care will be a winning issue in next year’s midterms.
Hospitals warn they could lose billions in revenue, and experts caution higher costs will drive healthier people out of the market, worsening the risk pool.
“The reality and the data and what people need seems pretty disconnected from the policy actions and politics of the national level,” said Purva Rawal, former chief strategy officer for the CMS Innovation Center.
Alexa McKinley Abel, director of government affairs and policy for the National Rural Health Association, explained that rural hospitals rely more than their urban counterparts on Medicare and Medicaid. If the subsidies lapse, she said, uncompensated care could increase and hospitals could shutter.
“People who aren’t able to transition to another source of coverage are going to be uninsured, and if they need emergency care, they’re going to continue to use their rural hospitals, but everyone else will be paying for it,” Abel said.
A spokesperson for Centene, one of the largest providers of ACA-compliant plans, told Medill News Service in a statement that working Americans who already face cost pressures, especially in rural areas, rely on the enhanced tax credits and will feel premium impacts if the subsidies are not renewed before Nov. 1.
“Without swift action from Congress to extend the enhanced tax credits, families across the country will be forced to make the impossible choice between health care and other basic needs, risking a rise in the uninsured rate and the peace of mind that comes with coverage,” the spokesperson wrote.
In the past few weeks, the subsidies have been thrust into the political spotlight as Jeffries, Johnson and Thune have engaged in a media and advertising blitz to blame the other side for a shutdown.
None of that changes the situation on the ground for Allen and the roughly 62,000 West Virginians who rely on the enhanced subsidies — many of whom could lose health insurance in three months.
“This really shouldn’t be a political issue, because independents, Republicans and Democrats will lose their health care,” Allen said.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly conflated hospitals’ commercial reimbursement rates from insurers with insurers’ direct payments from the government in the form of premium tax credits.
WATCH: DC CRIMES Act could end criminal record sealing for young adults
WASHINGTON – Federal lawmakers are one step closer to restricting flexible sentencing and record-sealing options for young offenders in D.C.
The DC Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act, or DC CRIMES Act, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 17.
Bill sponsor Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said, “Instead of addressing the clear epidemic of youth crime in the city, the DC city council increased the age of youth offenders.”
Donalds and the eight other co-sponsors of the bill claim the DC city council has been treating people 18 to 24 as juveniles, not adults, in the criminal justice system. But these young adults are still tried in adult court.
Donalds and other House Republicans are targeting the city’s Youth Rehabilitation Act, which gives judges the discretion to shorten sentences and set aside records for people 24 and younger once their sentence is completed. The potential changes worry youth justice advocates.
WATCH THE VIDEO REPORT HERE:
Watch: Rep. Pressley sounds alarm on Black women’s unemployment
WASHINGTON – Rep. Pressley (D-Mass.) called on the Federal Reserve on Thursday to address disproportionately higher unemployment rates among Black women before the government potentially shuts down on Sept. 30.
Rep. Pressley sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell urging the Fed to uphold its mandate of maximizing employment opportunities.
This comes after Pressley said 320,000 Black women have exited the labor force since February.
Northwestern economist Kirabo Jackson said rising unemployment among Black women represents a “canary in the coal mine.”
“When the economy is in a good position, Black Americans, Black women are more likely to be hired,” Jackson said. “But when things are in a bad situation, they’re the first ones that are going to be on the chopping block.”
Watch the video report here:
Rep. Pressley calls on the Fed, Powell to address Black women’s unemployment
WASHINGTON — Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) called for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to address growing unemployment rates for Black women by Sept. 30.
In a Thursday press conference with Black activists, Pressley urged the Fed to uphold its mandate to maximize employment, which she said applied to all demographics.
She sent a letter earlier this month to Powell about rising unemployment among Black women — an issue she called a “canary in the coal mine.”
“This is not just a crisis for Black women,” Pressley said. “This is a glaring red flag for the entire economy.”
According to an August report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 319,000 Black women lost their jobs between February and July 2025, a 1.3% rise in unemployment.
That unemployment increase mirrors the trend in total Black unemployment which rose to 7.5% in August, from 6% in February. The national unemployment rate in August was 4.3%.
Since Trump took office, federal jobs have been on the chopping block. Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the federal workforce, estimates more than 200,000 federal employees have left their roles since February.
Black women comprise nearly 12% of the federal workforce but only about 7% of the civilian workforce, leaving them disproportionately affected by federal job cuts.
The White House is threatening more federal layoffs as a potential government shutdown looms in early October. The Office of Management and Budget released a memo Wednesday ordering federal agencies to prepare mass firing plans.
Melanie L. Campbell, president and CEO of Black Women’s Roundtable, said the increase in unemployment among Black women isn’t getting enough attention.
“Had this been 300,000 white women who have lost their jobs at a higher rate than anybody else, it would be on the news 24/7,” she said.
Although Pressley’s remarks focused on her demands of the Fed, she also condemned the Trump administration’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and its hostility towards to Black people.
In her letter to the Fed, she specifically mentioned Trump’s attempted firing of Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to sit on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
“He is obsessed with Black women,” Pressley said.
Trump questions UN effectiveness in General Assembly address
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump drew laughter less than one minute into his speech Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly after his teleprompter stopped working.
“I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble,” Trump said.
That remark turned into a motif throughout his hour-long address, full of criticism of the U.N.’s effectiveness — from its handling of issues like mass migration to its escalator, which he said broke when he rode it that morning.
Trump said, erroneously, he has ended “seven unendable wars” since the start of his second term, the Israel-Iran conflict among them. He then said the U.N. should have done more to help.
“All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up,” he said. “It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war.”
For most of the address, which went well beyond the allotted 15 minutes, Trump boasted about the United States’ economic achievements while pointing out what he said were the shortcomings of other nations.
He pushed other countries to restrict immigration and green energy, which he called a “double-tailed monster.”
Trump criticized his predecessors when speaking about both subjects.
He said millions of illegal immigrants entered the U.S. through the southern border during the “incompetent” Biden administration.
And he encouraged other nations to enact border control policies as he has.
“I’m really good at this stuff,” Trump said. “Your countries are going to hell.”
When speaking about climate change, he called renewable energy a “green scam” that hurts economies. He said the U.N.’s global warming projections were “made by stupid people.”
He also invoked former President Barack Obama.
“He’d get in and he’d fly from Washington to Hawaii to play a round of golf,” Trump said. “And then he’d get back onto that big beautiful plane and he’d fly back and he would again talk about global warming and the carbon footprint. It’s a con job.”
Alice Hill, senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations, said during a CFR media briefing following Trump’s speech that she was surprised he doubled down against global warming.
“He is just ignoring what’s happening in the rest of the world and proving that the United States has gone off into a far corner on climate change that, really, no one else is interested in joining,” Hill said.
Among the few other nations he mentioned in his speech, Trump praised Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who spoke before him.
Trump said he and Lula have arranged to meet next week. Still, he said Brazil is “doing poorly” and needs to work with the U.S. to succeed.
CFR senior fellow Edward Alden said at the media briefing that Trump’s primary focus on his own country contrasts with the multilateral collaboration of the U.N.
“There is a coherence to his worldview that I think we have to take seriously,” Alden said. “To me, the really interesting thing in the context of the United Nations is, are other nations going to buy any of this?”
Trump said the U.S. is prepared to help nations that need it. But he was less charitable toward the U.N.
“These are the two things I got from the United Nations — a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” Trump said.
Watch: Who gets to ask questions at the White House?
WASHINGTON — As the Trump administration increasingly welcomes vloggers and social media influencers into press briefings and the Oval Office, established outlets like the Associated Press find themselves excluded from the century-old press pool, sparking controversy about what “transparency” truly means.
Watch the video report here:
Published in conjunction with 
Jewish communities dispute whether antisemitism runs through Trump administration
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s prediction in September about the likelihood that Jews could determine the 2024 election ignited strong reactions from Jews across religious denominations.
“If I don’t win this election…in my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss,” the President said at an American-Israeli Council event to combat antisemitism.
When Trump made the comment at the summit, some Jewish voters’ ears perked up. Others didn’t.
Jews disagree about whether some in the Trump administration, including the President himself, embrace and encourage antisemitism. The division within Jewish opinion stems from Trump’s record of delivering on the priorities of certain Jews.
Jonathan Ungar said that Trump had made a similar comment at a private event Ungar attended in Deal, New Jersey. For Ungar and like-minded Jewish voters, Trump’s declaration was a hyperbolic statement with a tinge of truth. To Ungar, Trump was not accusing Jews, who often largely vote for Democrats, of potentially costing him the election.
“His point is that with all he has done and would do in the future, we should be united behind him,” Ungar said.
Trump returned to office with greater support from Jews than he enjoyed in 2020. Although polls varied, a Harvard survey found that Trump enjoyed a 12-point increase in Jewish votes compared to his defeat by President Joe Biden.
Discord within the Jewish community was amplified post October 7. Adela Cojab, a legal fellow at the National Jewish Advocacy Center, said that some people on both sides of the political spectrum engage in antisemitism.
In the past, many Jews readily identified right-wing antisemitism, but Jews disputed whether anti-Zionism from liberals constituted antisemitism, according to religious leaders and historians.
“The difference between right-wing and left-wing antisemitism is that when we see right-wing antisemitism, we call it out,” said Cojab.
She challenged anyone to cite specific antisemitic actions by Trump officials. “People who say that there’s antisemitism in the Trump’s administration, point it to me.”
However, many Jews assert that Trump’s administration has engaged in antisemitic rhetoric but has faced very little reproach from the Jewish community at large because of the President’s staunch alignment with Israel.
After Elon Musk, the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, stuck out his arm with a flat hand on Inauguration Day, some people said the gesture resembled a Nazi salute. One month later, far-right extremist Steve Bannon displayed a similar gesture during one of his speeches.
“The Nazi salutes are the most ubiquitous signal to antisemitic neo-Nazis. Those salutes are welcomed and embraced by extremists, and that’s enough to concern me,” said Stacy Burdett, who was raised in an Orthodox community and now practices Judaism across various denominations. “I’m a supporter of Israel. I am glad that there are American leaders who are supporters of Israel, but that doesn’t negate your obligation to stand up against antisemitism.”
Burdett said she is also concerned about Musk and Vice President JD Vance’s support for a right-wing extremist political party in Germany.
“Our Vice President meeting with today’s German version of the Nazi Party is one of the biggest endorsements I can think of for Nazi ideas and xenophobia,” she said.
From the outset of his second term, Trump has put diplomacy with Israel and support for Zionism at the forefront of his agenda. On the campaign trail, Trump promised he would be “the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.” In January, Trump enacted an executive order to bolster efforts to combat antisemitism, which led to Columbia University losing $400 million in federal grants. Trump also threatened that “all hell will break out” unless Hamas released all hostages still held in Gaza.
“When we have big support, a big hug with the State of Israel, all over the world everyone understands that they cannot attack the Jews,” Israeli politician Israel Ganz said. “When you support Israel, you support the Jews all over the world. You cannot disconnect this connection.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D – NY), who identifies as a Zionist, emphasized that someone can support Israel but still advance anti-Jewish sentiments.
Torres said he, too, worried about the Jewish community’s ties with Trump given Trump’s connections with far-right extremists, such as conservative commentator Tucker Carlson. Torres expressed concern about Carlson’s sit-down with podcaster Darryl Cooper, who said that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was the “chief villain of the Second World War,” rather than Adolf Hitler.
“We have to be consistent. The fight against antisemitism has to transcend tribalism and partisan politics,” Torres said. “If you refuse to speak out against antisemitism in your own ideological backyard, then you’re not part of the solution; you’re part of the problem.”
Kevin Rachlin, a director at the Nexus Leadership Project who testified at a March 5 Senate hearing on combating antisemitism, shared similar concerns about how Trump’s rhetoric emboldens antisemites. He said the extremist ideologies circulated by Trump and his allies during his first year in office was a factor that caused the 2018 Pittsburgh shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.
“The relative silence of too many of our politicians normalizes hate and emboldens those animated by antisemitic ideas,” Rachlin said.
Other Jews, however, cite Trump’s first term in office as proof of his support of the Jewish community. During his first four years, Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal, moved the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognized Israel as having sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Trump also facilitated the Abraham Accords, the first Arab-Israeli peace agreement in about 26 years.
At the Judiciary Committee’s hearing, ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin (D – Ill.) condemned Trump’s pardons of specific January 6 rioters who “openly embrace violent antisemitism.” Some of them wore clothing exhibiting Nazi slogans and made statements revering Hitler. Durbin emphasized that Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, who was appointed by Trump, called one Nazi sympathizer “an extraordinary man, an extraordinary leader.”
Across the political spectrum, many Jews expressed dismay that Jews disagree about antisemitism in the Trump administration. However, Alyza Lewin, who is the president of the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, said that debate is part of Jewish tradition.
“We believe in discussing and challenging thoughts and ideas, and I think that that strengthens us,” Lewin said. “Yes, we will always have Jews who think differently about the issues. At bottom, though, what is absolutely essential for Jewish unity is for us to all recognize we’re all part of the Jewish people.”
Watch: Layoffs at EPA may impact federal funding for communities
WASHINGTON – The federal government laid off more than 60 thousand workers in the first two months of 2025, while another 75,000 employees accepted a buyout and voluntarily resigned.
Among those laid off was James Clark, an Environmental Protection Agency employee who lost his job while on his honeymoon. “It’s just very sad to see someone like Elon Musk take a chainsaw on live TV and say what we do doesn’t matter,” said Clark.
Watch the video report here:
Watch: Rep. Delia Ramirez pushes back against Trump immigration policies
WASHINGTON– As Illinois and the Midwest’s first Latina congresswoman, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said she feels a responsibility to uplift immigrant communities like those she came from. This has meant protesting President Donald Trump and his administration’s attack on immigrants.
In early March, Ramirez organized a rally to voice support for Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson’s sanctuary policies, which have been a target of the Trump administration’s immigration raids. In the House, she also reintroduced the Dream and Promise Act to create a pathway for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, like her husband, to gain citizenship. These actions are part of her efforts to push back against the president’s immigration policies.
Watch the video report here:
Published in conjunction with 
Medill Today | Tuesday, October 14, 2025