**More Good News**
GOP lawmakers in swing districts are insisting they will not vote for any proposal that strips Medicaid benefits (thank you Indivisibles!), placing them at odds with more conservative lawmakers looking to secure deep cuts in spending and threatening GOP plans for Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
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Orlando city commissioner Tony Ortiz, a retired police officer and U.S. Marine veteran who has served on the city commission for 17 years, has switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, citing his disagreement with GOP positions on issues ranging from immigration to banning certain books in schools to dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion policies. “The Republican party is not the Republican party I signed up with,” said Ortiz, who had described himself previously as a “Ronald Reagan Republican.”
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President Trump says he will withdraw the nomination of Ed Martin (who has spent the last few years advocating for Jan. 6 defendants and embracing conspiracy theoriesabout the attack and results of the 2020 election) as his pick for U.S. Attorney in D.C.
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The Trump administration must halt much of its dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered Friday. Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed last week by labor unions and cities. “The Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime.”
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In a rare on-camera appearance on Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked President Donald Trump’s call to impeach a judge who ruled against his administration’s immigration policies. He indicated that the appeals process – not impeachment – is the proper way to deal with adverse rulings. “This job is to obviously decide cases, but in the course of that, to check the excesses of Congress or the executive, and that does require a degree of independence,” Roberts said, drawing applause from the crowd.
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Last week, candidates that were aligned with Trump lost badly in both Canada and Australia. The more conservative leaning candidates had been ahead in the polls by quite a bit in both countries, until voters basically decided they didn’t want anybody that even looks or sounds like Donald Trump running their country – so in both cases, the more liberal candidate won those elections.
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Mike waltz (who is known for his hawkish stance on China, vocal criticism of diversity programs, and questions why the US should continue support of Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia) is out as NSA director!
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The Pulitzer Prize for public service was awarded to Pro Publica for their reporting exposing the fatal consequences of abortion bans – specifically pregnant women who are dying in Republican states. The reporting exposed the chilling impact on medical professionals forced to choose between their oath and the law, the anguish faced by families due to these extremes of Republican ideologies.
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Earlier this year Trump forced the USDA to suspend funds for a child nutrition program in Maine after Maine officials said the state would not comply with Donald Trump’s demands that trans girls be barred from participating in girls’ sports. Maine held their ground, and court settlement disclosed on Friday that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will now be resuming the nutrition program funds.
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After the Trump family made 3 BILLION from manipulating the crypto market, all Democrats and three Republicans — including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri — voted against legislation which would create the first-ever U.S. regulatory framework for digital tokens known as stablecoins. Democrats in Congress are insisting on restrictions that would prevent elected officials and their families from owning, controlling, or promoting stablecoin-related businesses. Elizabeth Warren said the bill in its current state would “supercharge Donald Trump’s corruption,” put “national security at risk,” undercut consumer protection and run “a substantial risk of eventually blowing up the U.S. economy.” It’s encouraging to see Democrats holding the line!
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Both Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho adopted new city flags showing support for LGBTQ+ people in defiance of their states’ Republican-controlled Legislatures, which have banned traditional rainbow pride flags at schools and government buildings. Kudos to both!
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Conservative school board candidates suffered losses all across the state of Texas this week, many with particularly egregious goals like book banning and other extreme policies. The sweeping losses for conservative school board hopefuls serves as an early sign of potential backlash to the nascent administration of President Donald Trump ahead of a 2026 midterm (You’re next, Tennessee!)
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Please send us a message if you come across good news during the week so we can add it to our next updates. We need ALL the good stuff we can get in the current nerve racking climate!