Fewer congressional contests are expected to be competitive this fall, compared with past election cycles, and experts say the extraordinary mid-decade redistricting efforts initiated by President Trump are largely to blame.

Fewer competitive seats means the overwhelming majority — more than 90% — of congressional races will pretty much be decided during primary elections, which see far fewer voters participate than general elections.

"Right now, we only rate 18 out of 435 races as toss ups, which means that less than 5% of Americans will truly be deciding who's in control of the House," David Wasserman, senior elections analyst for the Cook Political Report, told NPR.

This disparity in the voting power of Americans in congressional races has been a worsening problem for several election cycles.

A Guardian analysis finds the vast majority of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time from January to August last year had no criminal convictions

A Guardian analysis of government records has found that the vast majority – 77% – of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time in 2025 had no criminal conviction, exposing a stark gap between the Trump administration’s rhetoric and reality.

Within days of Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) trotted out a phrase that his surrogates would come to use over and over again: “the worst of the worst.”

The term has become a shorthand justification for the administration’s unprecedented overhaul of immigration enforcement – a relentless campaign the administration claims is focused on arresting and deporting violent criminals.

However, a review of records obtained by the Guardian and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed against DHS, raises questions about those claims.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/43439862

Modern oligarchs like Musk, Bezos, Gates, and Zuckerberg are exactly like medieval lords. The top 1% controls all resources, and it is almost impossible to buy an apartment today. We own nothing and just pay rent or subscribe to their platforms. These billionaires have total power to fire thousands of workers anytime and buy politicians for their own interest. They say they work for humanity, but it is just fake marketing. For example, they are silent on wars in Palestine and Ukraine. Majority of ordinary people and developers are too naive. They believe these lies and fail to see the real system

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/34385496

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/43464942

Donald Trump on Friday railed against the supreme court justices who blocked his use of tariffs, calling the decision a “disgrace to the nation” and claiming he planned to impose even more tariffs under other statutory authorities.

“It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think,” the president said during remarks from the White House. He cast that influence as social and cultural. “I’m ashamed of certain members of the court. Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.”

He praised the three justices who dissented in the opinion – Brett Kavanaugh who wrote the main dissent, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The others – including two of his appointees, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch – drew his derision.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/43473370

Feb 18, 2026

The newspaper spoke to 13 Democratic and independent voters including retirees from Indiana and Michigan, working people from states such as North Carolina and Nevada, and an unemployed voter from Iowa. The topic of discussion was the participants’ frustrations with the Democratic Party as it faces the Trump administration and the president’s aggressive deployment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) across the country.

“Spineless” was one word a participant had for the Democratic Party when asked to describe it. Another said the party appears “paralyzed” while a 46-year-old Latina woman from Nevada said Democrats in Congress are “sellouts and suckers.”

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/55655529

If Donald Trump’s administration really wants to find evidence of foreign interference in Georgia’s elections, then they need look no further than the president’s old friend Elon Musk and his shady super PAC.

Members of the Georgia State Elections Board voted Wednesday to issue a formal letter of reprimand to Musk’s America PAC over the billionaire technocrat’s illegal scheme to get Trump elected. Georgia, a key battleground state in 2024, was the target of aggressive campaigning by Trump’s team.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/55519854

Donald Trump is the president of the United States, but the population believes that Bad Bunny better embodies American values. According to a survey published by Yahoo and YouGov, a company specializing in market research, the artist best reflects the North American country, with 42% of positive responses, compared to the Republican president, who had 39%. The study was conducted days after the Puerto Rican’s performance at halftime during Super Bowl LX, which took place on Sunday, February 8.

Trump said on social media that the show had been one of the worst in history. “It is an affront to the greatness of the United States and does not represent our values of success, creativity, and excellence. No one understands a word this guy says, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children.” But the numbers tell a different story.

The partisan difference is striking. About 78% of those who identify as Democrats view Bad Bunny favorably, and only 7% reject him. On the other hand, among those who identify as Republicans, only 12% approve of the Puerto Rican, compared to 70% who disapprove. Among independent voters, 46% voted for the artist, while 27% voted for the president.

Bad Bunny’s performance at one of the most watched events in the world has also generated increased interest in learning Spanish and traveling to the Caribbean island. Duolingo, one of the most popular language learning apps, shared a graph on its social media showing a 35% increase in Spanish learners minutes after the artist’s performance ended.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/47911869

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/43523922

Dans argued the policies laid out in Project 2025 are popular with the president's base, and said: "I think it was one of the great electoral miscalculations in history [by the Democratic Party] to demonise Project 2025 rather than just tell the people what their vision was for the next four years."

Nearly half a million Louisiana voters are on an inactive voter registration list statewide, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State. Officials are urging residents to verify their status and party affiliation ahead of a May primary election under a new closed primary system.

More than 50,000 names on the inactive list are from East Baton Rouge Parish. Ascension Parish has more than 9,000, and Livingston Parish has more than 7,000.

Parish registrars of voters routinely review death reports, felon reports, and annual canvassing records to identify voters who may have moved. Over the past year, registrars have also flagged voters who have not cast a ballot in the last 10 years.

“A number of those voters wind up on the inactive list, so voters who have had a piece of mail returned to our office, or who we couldn’t verify their information during the annual canvas,” an official said.

Each year, the Secretary of State publishes the names and addresses of inactive voters in a newspaper ad.

Voters on the inactive list are not immediately removed. They remain registered and go through a grace period covering two general federal elections. If they do not vote or update their records with the registrar’s office during that period, they are removed from the rolls.

“They are still registered voters, they go through a grace period of two general federal elections, and if they don’t vote during that time or update their records with our office, then they’re removed from the rolls,” an official said.

New closed primary system adds urgency

With the May party primary operating under a new closed primary system, officials said voters should also confirm their party affiliation.

“The closed party primaries are new to Louisiana, and you’re restricted by your party affiliation as to which primary you can vote in,” an official said.

Voters can update their information or change their registration status by submitting a new registration online. Registration closes approximately one month before each election.

Voters who do not update their records ahead of an election can also fill out an address confirmation form at their polling place on election day.

“Or when you do go to vote at the next election, you’ll be asked to fill out an address confirmation form at the polling place,” an official said.

Recent incidents involving Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert suggest things are not well at the network after the acquisition financed by Trump supporter Larry Ellison

United States prosecutors and federal law enforcement spent over a year examining ties between Jeffrey Epstein and Customs and Border Protection officers stationed in the US Virgin Islands (USVI), according to documents recently released by the Department of Justice.

As The Guardian and New York Times have reported, emails, text messages, and investigative records show that Epstein cultivated friendships with several officers, entertaining them on his island and offering to take them for whale-watching trips in his helicopter. He even brought one cannolis for Christmas Eve. In turn, Epstein would bring certain officers his complaints about his treatment at the hands of other CBP and federal agents. Most of the interactions described in the records occurred years after Epstein pleaded guilty to charges of sex crimes in Florida in 2008.

The CBP officers were never charged for any crimes related to Epstein, and at least one later retired from the agency with a pension, suggesting that the government ultimately didn’t find any wrongdoing. The documents do, though, describe patterns of behavior—two of the officers referred to Epstein as a “friend”—that one government ethics expert described as inappropriate and possible violations of federal guidance. They also contain grand jury subpoenas that specifically name the officers and compel the recipients, which were largely financial services firms, to aid federal prosecutors who were looking into allegations of a conspiracy to defraud the US government.

Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, ushered in under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, were unlawfully imposed

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, ushered in under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, were unlawfully imposed. Trump had used the act to charge huge levies on countries, including 50% on India, which was later reduced, and 34% on China.

By Friday night, the president posted on Truth Social that he signed an executive order enabling him to bypass Congress and impose a 10% tax on imports from around the world. “It is my Great Honor to have just signed, from the Oval Office, a Global 10% Tariff on all Countries, which will be effective almost immediately,” Trump wrote.

Less than 24 hours later, Trump said he was bumping up the tariffs to 15% “based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday.”