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"This is an immediate crisis for kids, for public safety, for our seniors, for our healthcare system," said Sen. Chris Murphy. "And why? Because Donald Trump is trying to seize power."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dodged the question numerous times during the Trump administration's first press briefing on Tuesday: Will Medicaid be one of the federal programs impacted by the Office of Management and Budget's recently announced funding freeze on grants and loans?
Leavitt told reporters numerous times that "funds that go to individuals" will not be affected by the OMB's order and said she would get a full list of the impacted programs to the press after the briefing, refusing to answer when one journalist pointed out that many impacted programs "pass on benefits to people."
When one reporter asked if she was "guaranteeing here that no individual now on Medicaid would see a cutoff because of the policy," Leavitt said she would "check back on that."
But before the briefing was over, numerous Democratic lawmakers were sharing reports that Medicaid portals in all 50 states were in fact down.
"Just confirmed that the Trump administration shut down the Medicaid portal for Florida," said U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.). "There are over 3.8 MILLION Floridians on Medicaid."
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) confirmed that "Medicaid payment system has been turned off" in his state, with doctors and hospitals unable to be compensated for care provided to low-income people, children, and people with disabilities who receive healthcare through the program, while Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said the same about New Mexico.
On the Payment Management Services website at the Department of Health and Human Services, a message read: "PAYMENT DELAYS: Due to executive orders regarding potentially unallowable grant payments, PMS is taking additional measures to process payments. Reviews of applicable programs and payments will result in delays and/or rejections of payments."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said his staff had confirmed that Medicaid portals in "all 50 states" were affected by the order, which the OMB said was driven by the Trump administration's desire to ensure federal resources are not used to "advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and Green New Deal social engineering policies."
Noting that 41% of all births in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) emphasized that the entire Republican Party is "backing this illegal sabotage"—freezing funds that provide nearly 80 million people with healthcare coverage as well as those that keep Head Start early childhood education programs, clinical cancer research trials, food assistance for senior citizens, and homeless shelters running.
"Overnight, Republicans are destroying healthcare for millions of Americans—and it isn't just [President Donald] Trump," said Ocasio-Cortez. "They are ALL in on it. Every one."
In a video posted to social media, Murphy accused Trump of a "brazen, transparent effort to seize power"—marked by his pardon of more than 1,000 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to overturn his 2020 election loss and his firing of at least a dozen inspectors general, as well his "government funding shutdown."
"This is an immediate crisis for kids, for public safety, for our seniors, for our healthcare system," said Murphy. "And why? Because Donald Trump is trying to seize power."
Ocasio-Cortez agreed, saying Trump's order has thrown the country into "a constitutional crisis."
"Trump is holding all the nation's hospitals and vital services hostage to seize power from Congress and hand it over to billionaires," said the congresswoman. "It's a massive, illegal power grab that the House and Senate have a sworn duty to stop."
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dodged the question numerous times during the Trump administration's first press briefing on Tuesday: Will Medicaid be one of the federal programs impacted by the Office of Management and Budget's recently announced funding freeze on grants and loans?
Leavitt told reporters numerous times that "funds that go to individuals" will not be affected by the OMB's order and said she would get a full list of the impacted programs to the press after the briefing, refusing to answer when one journalist pointed out that many impacted programs "pass on benefits to people."
When one reporter asked if she was "guaranteeing here that no individual now on Medicaid would see a cutoff because of the policy," Leavitt said she would "check back on that."
But before the briefing was over, numerous Democratic lawmakers were sharing reports that Medicaid portals in all 50 states were in fact down.
"Just confirmed that the Trump administration shut down the Medicaid portal for Florida," said U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.). "There are over 3.8 MILLION Floridians on Medicaid."
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) confirmed that "Medicaid payment system has been turned off" in his state, with doctors and hospitals unable to be compensated for care provided to low-income people, children, and people with disabilities who receive healthcare through the program, while Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said the same about New Mexico.
On the Payment Management Services website at the Department of Health and Human Services, a message read: "PAYMENT DELAYS: Due to executive orders regarding potentially unallowable grant payments, PMS is taking additional measures to process payments. Reviews of applicable programs and payments will result in delays and/or rejections of payments."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said his staff had confirmed that Medicaid portals in "all 50 states" were affected by the order, which the OMB said was driven by the Trump administration's desire to ensure federal resources are not used to "advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and Green New Deal social engineering policies."
Noting that 41% of all births in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) emphasized that the entire Republican Party is "backing this illegal sabotage"—freezing funds that provide nearly 80 million people with healthcare coverage as well as those that keep Head Start early childhood education programs, clinical cancer research trials, food assistance for senior citizens, and homeless shelters running.
"Overnight, Republicans are destroying healthcare for millions of Americans—and it isn't just [President Donald] Trump," said Ocasio-Cortez. "They are ALL in on it. Every one."
In a video posted to social media, Murphy accused Trump of a "brazen, transparent effort to seize power"—marked by his pardon of more than 1,000 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to overturn his 2020 election loss and his firing of at least a dozen inspectors general, as well his "government funding shutdown."
"This is an immediate crisis for kids, for public safety, for our seniors, for our healthcare system," said Murphy. "And why? Because Donald Trump is trying to seize power."
Ocasio-Cortez agreed, saying Trump's order has thrown the country into "a constitutional crisis."
"Trump is holding all the nation's hospitals and vital services hostage to seize power from Congress and hand it over to billionaires," said the congresswoman. "It's a massive, illegal power grab that the House and Senate have a sworn duty to stop."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dodged the question numerous times during the Trump administration's first press briefing on Tuesday: Will Medicaid be one of the federal programs impacted by the Office of Management and Budget's recently announced funding freeze on grants and loans?
Leavitt told reporters numerous times that "funds that go to individuals" will not be affected by the OMB's order and said she would get a full list of the impacted programs to the press after the briefing, refusing to answer when one journalist pointed out that many impacted programs "pass on benefits to people."
When one reporter asked if she was "guaranteeing here that no individual now on Medicaid would see a cutoff because of the policy," Leavitt said she would "check back on that."
But before the briefing was over, numerous Democratic lawmakers were sharing reports that Medicaid portals in all 50 states were in fact down.
"Just confirmed that the Trump administration shut down the Medicaid portal for Florida," said U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.). "There are over 3.8 MILLION Floridians on Medicaid."
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) confirmed that "Medicaid payment system has been turned off" in his state, with doctors and hospitals unable to be compensated for care provided to low-income people, children, and people with disabilities who receive healthcare through the program, while Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said the same about New Mexico.
On the Payment Management Services website at the Department of Health and Human Services, a message read: "PAYMENT DELAYS: Due to executive orders regarding potentially unallowable grant payments, PMS is taking additional measures to process payments. Reviews of applicable programs and payments will result in delays and/or rejections of payments."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said his staff had confirmed that Medicaid portals in "all 50 states" were affected by the order, which the OMB said was driven by the Trump administration's desire to ensure federal resources are not used to "advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and Green New Deal social engineering policies."
Noting that 41% of all births in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) emphasized that the entire Republican Party is "backing this illegal sabotage"—freezing funds that provide nearly 80 million people with healthcare coverage as well as those that keep Head Start early childhood education programs, clinical cancer research trials, food assistance for senior citizens, and homeless shelters running.
"Overnight, Republicans are destroying healthcare for millions of Americans—and it isn't just [President Donald] Trump," said Ocasio-Cortez. "They are ALL in on it. Every one."
In a video posted to social media, Murphy accused Trump of a "brazen, transparent effort to seize power"—marked by his pardon of more than 1,000 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to overturn his 2020 election loss and his firing of at least a dozen inspectors general, as well his "government funding shutdown."
"This is an immediate crisis for kids, for public safety, for our seniors, for our healthcare system," said Murphy. "And why? Because Donald Trump is trying to seize power."
Ocasio-Cortez agreed, saying Trump's order has thrown the country into "a constitutional crisis."
"Trump is holding all the nation's hospitals and vital services hostage to seize power from Congress and hand it over to billionaires," said the congresswoman. "It's a massive, illegal power grab that the House and Senate have a sworn duty to stop."
"The overwhelming support for impeachment shows that the American public is not willing to accept King Trump," said Alexandra Flores-Quilty, Free Speech for People campaign director.
The nonprofit Free Speech for People is leading a new nonpartisan campaign to drum up support for U.S. President Donald Trump's removal—"Impeach Trump Again"—and reported Thursday that the effort has already garnered over 100,000 petition signatures.
The campaign is calling on Congress to launch an impeachment investigation into Trump and says that the signature numbers signal "widespread support" for a probe.
"The overwhelming support for impeachment shows that the American public is not willing to accept King Trump," said Alexandra Flores-Quilty, Free Speech for People campaign director, in a Thursday statement. "We need bold leaders in Congress willing to stand up and hold Trump accountable for his abuses of power and initiate an impeachment inquiry."
The petition, which was launched on Inauguration Day, calls on Congress to initiate an impeachment investigation into Trump based on potential violations of the U.S. Constitution's emoluments clauses, his pardoning of insurrectionists who took part in the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol, and his "unlawful" and "corrupt" campaign practices.
Free Speech for People also launched a campaign to build public support for Trump's impeachment on the day of his inauguration back in 2017.
The emoluments clauses require that Trump "fully divest himself from any businesses receiving profits, gains, or advantages, beyond his official compensation, from the federal government or the individual states," according to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Trump's business empire—which, as far as the public knows, he has not divested from—now includes not only real estate, but also a social media platform and a cryptocurrency token.
The campaign also lists other alleged impeachable offenses.
Trump was impeached twice by the House of Representatives during his first term, but in both cases he was acquitted by the Senate. Both chambers of Congress are now controlled by Trump's Republican Party.
One controller was doing the work of two people at the long-understaffed tower in the Washington, D.C. area.
A preliminary report on Wednesday night's crash involving a American Airlines commercial flight and a military helicopter revealed that the air traffic control tower in the vicinity of the accident was not staffed at "normal" levels, with just one controller handling a task that two employees ordinarily would have done in the high-stress job.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report on Thursday said the staffing at the time of the crash was "not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic."
One controller was instructing helicopters near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport while also directing planes landing at and departing from the airport.
As The New York Times reported, controllers use different radio frequencies to communicate with helicopter pilots and those flying planes.
"While the controller is communicating with pilots of the helicopter and the jet, the two sets of pilots may not be able to hear each other," according to the Times.
Air traffic controllers have been forced to work longer hours and workweeks in recent years, amid budget constraints and high turnover. In 2023, the tower near Washington, D.C. had 19 fully certified air traffic controllers. The FAA and the controllers' union say the optimal number is 30.
The FAA report was released shortly after President Donald Trump presented his own theory, without evidence, of why the crash that killed 67 people happened.
Trump suggested at a press briefing that under the Biden administration, the FAA had overseen a "diversity push" with a "focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities."
A reporter at the briefing asked whether Trump was saying the crash "was somehow caused and the result of diversity hiring" and called on him to offer evidence to support the claim.
"It just could have been," Trump said, adding that his administration has "a much higher standard than anybody else" for hiring federal employees.
Government Executive noted that the FAA began diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring programs as early as 2013, which continued under the first Trump administration.
No identifying information has been reported about the air traffic controller who was handling the flight paths in question on Wednesday. American Airlines has also not released any personal information about who was piloting its aircraft; Army officials said the helicopter was piloted by one man and one woman, and a male staff sergeant was also on board.
Trump told reporters that he was confident that DEI hiring practices played a role in the crash because he has "common sense."
But critics including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) noted that Trump has taken several steps since taking office less than two weeks ago that could make air travel more dangerous for Americans in the long term.
"Trump gutted the aviation safety committee last week," said the congresswoman, referring to the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. "Air traffic controllers—already understaffed—got Trump's 'buyout' this week with a one-week ultimatum to decide. It's not DEI—it's him."
Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) also warned last week that Trump's federal hiring freeze could worsen understaffing among air traffic controllers.
"Hiring air traffic controllers is the number one safety issue according to the entire aviation industry," said Larsen at the time. "Instead of working to improve aviation safety and lower costs for hardworking American families, the administration is choosing to spread bogus DEI claims to justify this decision. I'm not surprised by the president's dangerous and divisive actions, but the administration must reverse course."
On Thursday, Larsen offered condolences for the families of the victims in the crash, and cautioned against speculating "on the causes of aviation accidents before we have the facts and the details."
"However, I know it's not DEI because it never is," said Larsen. "The National Transportation Safety Board will look at the causes and contributing factors of this accident. It is important to let the NTSB complete its work before we consider any potential policy response."
"Voters—and all Americans—deserve better than two corporate-controlled parties," asserted the leader of Our Revolution.
The head of a leading U.S. progressive group on Thursday accused the Democratic National Committee—which will choose new leadership this weekend—of trying to silence rank-and-file activists and voters, showing that the Democratic Party's governing body is failing to connect with the working-class Americans who helped deliver the White House and Congress to Republicans.
"This moment demands a Democratic Party that provides more than just reactive opposition to an administration bent on rigging our economic and political systems in favor of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals on Earth," Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of Our Revolution, an offshoot of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign, said in a statement ahead of Thursday evening's final DNC candidate forum. "It demands leaders who put the party's grassroots base ahead of the donor class and articulate a real vision that rejects [Republican President] Donald Trump's corporate rule—starting with renouncing corporate money themselves."
"Unfortunately," Geevarghese lamented, "Democratic leadership is failing disastrously to meet this urgent mandate. Ahead of tonight's forum, the DNC is actively working to silence rank-and-file Democratic activists and base voters calling for a ban on dark money in primaries and the rejection of corporate funding. In a last-minute move, they shut the event off from the public and even deliberately shared the wrong address for where grassroots supporters are allowed to gather."
Trump has forged an unholy alliance between state and corporate power. With the help of Big Tech, Big Oil and other oligarchs, he is ushering in a new era of authoritarian capitalism in America. Where is the Democratic Party? Where is the leadership and where is the opposition required in this mom
— Our Revolution ( @our-revolution.bsky.social) January 28, 2025 at 10:15 AM
A post-election survey of 5,000 Our Revolution members found that only 14% of respondents were "very confident" that the Democratic Party and its leaders in Congress, state houses, and city halls will fight against the worst parts of Trump's agenda. Furthermore, 88% of survey respondents said they support efforts to transform the Democratic Party into a real opposition party and to get the party to reject corporate money and power, while the remaining 12% said they've already given up on the Democratic Party.
Forty-one percent of survey respondents said they want Our Revolution to primarily focus on fighting Trump and oligarchs, 32% said the group should concentrate on taking back the Democratic Party from the corporate class, and the remaining 27% think Our Rev should prioritize electing progressive candidates.
An
Our Revolution petition signed by more than 10,000 active grassroots Democratic volunteers, donors, and local and state party leaders is calling on the DNC to:
"The question to my mind now is that if there is consensus around the working class confronting oligarchy, then what new ideas are we bringing to the table in how we utilize the power and authority of the DNC?" Shakir said in interview published Thursday by The Guardian. "My election would send the strongest message that we're doing something different."
As The Guardian's Joan Greve noted:
Shakir faces an uphill battle to capture the chair position. He only announced his candidacy earlier this month, while the front-runners in the race—Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party—have been campaigning for two months. Ahead of the leadership elections on Saturday, Martin claims to have already secured the support of at least 200 DNC members, which would put him within striking distance of a winning majority, although his opponents have questioned that whip count.
Undaunted, Shakir said he is the best candidate for refocusing the Democratic Party on serving its working-class base.
"Can we open the doors and let people in? Can we start from the premise that this is a people-powered organization?" he told Greve. "That we could be and should be in service to others beyond ourselves, that is the core of what I would believe as a kind of organizing philosophy of the Democratic party right now to rebuild the brand."
"The nation is calling upon the Democratic Party to say, 'Hey, we need you,'" he added. "I'm trying to fight the notions of insularity among groups of people who understandably are focused on reforming structures within the DNC. But we've got to think beyond the DNC.