Democratic Underground: Forums for U.S. Liberals and Democrats

White House lawyers prep staff for dealing with a Democratic Congress

The White House Counsel’s Office is giving private briefings to the administration’s political appointees on how to best prepare for congressional oversight as staff begin to brace for the likelihood of significant Democratic victories in the November midterm elections, according to two people briefed on the topic. The roughly 30-minute briefings have included a PowerPoint presentation about how congressional oversight works and best practices for handling it, according to the two people, who s ...

Beringia

Judge asks why jail placed suspect in White House correspondents dinner attack on suicide watch

This courtroom sketch depicts Cole Tomas Allen, center, listening as his attorney Eugene Ohm, left, speaks to U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, Monday, May 4, 2026, in Washington, as Tony Towns, the acting general counsel for the District of Columbia Department of Corrections, listens at right. WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal magistrate judge on Monday pressed a jail official to explain why a man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents' Association dinner and attempting to ki ...

highplainsdem

White House Considers Vetting A.I. Models Before They Are Released

President Trump, who promoted a hands-off approach to artificial intelligence and gave Silicon Valley free rein to roll out the technology, is considering the introduction of government oversight over new A.I. models, according to U.S. officials and people briefed on the deliberations. The administration is discussing an executive order to create an A.I. working group that would bring together tech executives and government officials to examine potential oversight procedures, according to U.S. ...

BumRushDaShow

Trump administration claims food aid fraud but critics say 'there's no evidence'

Mon 4 May 2026 07.00 EDT Last modified on Mon 4 May 2026 13.39 EDT The Trump administration’s attack on the 87-year-old food aid program that supports tens of millions of low-income Americans escalated last week as the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, claimed that 14,000 Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (Snap) recipients included owners of luxury vehicles such as Ferraris, Bentleys and Teslas. Critics charge that the broadside is part of a disinformation campaign aimed at und ...

BumRushDaShow

Pirro abandons plan to appeal Powell subpoenas in Fed investigation

Published Sun, May 3 2026 11:59 AM EDT Updated 23 Min Ago U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Monday asked a federal judge to vacate his decisions blocking aspects of her criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve under Chair Jerome Powell. Pirro's motion effectively walks back an often-repeated plan to appeal the judge's rulings to a higher court. Still, it is unlikely to provide Powell the certainty he wants that the legal threat against him and the Fed have dis ...

Dulcinea

Trump says the US will 'guide' stranded ships from the Strait of Hormuz, starting on Monday

(AP) The United States will launch an effort on Monday to “guide” stranded ships from the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said, as two ships around the strait reported attacks. Trump gave few details about what could be a sweeping attempt to help hundreds of vessels and some 20,000 seafarers. Iran quickly denounced the move as a ceasefire violation.

BlueWavePsych

US denies media reports that Iran struck American vessel in Strait of Hormuz

(France 24) A US official on Monday denied Iran state media reports that a US warship entering the ‌Strait ⁠of ‌Hormuz ⁠turned back after Iran fired missiles at it. Iran's military earlier warned that US forces would be attacked if they entered the strategic waterway after US President Donald Trump said the US would begin escorting stranded vessels.

BumRushDaShow

Pete Hegseth is now bringing his wife to Pentagon meetings after he ousted top officials: report

(The Independent) Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is now bringing his wife to meetings with Pentagon staffers as his inner circle grows tighter, according to a report. The move comes as Hegseth has faced increased criticism and ousted more than two dozen Pentagon officials in recent weeks. It also comes as Hegseth leads the nation’s efforts in the Iran war and constantly promotes the success the U.S. has had in its attacks. Hegseth has now grown increasingly isolated within the Pentagon, according to The Guardian.

BumRushDaShow

Trump and GOP push for aggressive voter roll purges up until Election Day, testing precedent

(CNN) For decades, it’s generally been assumed that any mass purges of voter rolls had to be completed at least 90 days out from an election. But Republicans and the Trump administration are now testing the scope of the federal law that imposes that ban on “systematic” removal programs within three months of an election, as President Donald Trump pushes for more aggressive reviews of voter rolls for non-citizens and other ineligible voters. The Justice Department has launched a sprawling effort to obtain nearly every state’s voter registration file and to review those files for suspected non-citizens.

KS Toronado

Monday's Condensed News Cartoons

Expand Featured Stories

Issue Forums

Alliance Forums

Region Forums

Latest Breaking News

Department of Education opens investigation into Smith College for admitting trans women

34 min ago - PUBLISHED May 4, 2026, 7:07 PM ET In the Trump administration’s latest move to limit trans rights, the Department of Education has launched a Title IX investigation into Smith College, an all-women’s college in western Massachusetts, for ad ... (CNN US)

Jeffries leads redistricting effort in New York

1 hr ago - 05/04/26 6:33 PM ET House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Monday he was devising a plan for redistricting in New York. The effort follows Florida’s decision to pursue new congressional maps and a Voting Rights Act decision from th ... (The Hill)

ISU and AFSCME reach tentative deal on new contract to end strike

1 hr ago - WGLT | By Ryan Denham Published May 5, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT Illinois State University and the AFSCME union that represents buildings, dining and food service workers announced late Monday that they've reached a tentative deal, likely ending the longes ... (WGLT)

Trump administration moves to block Minnesota climate change lawsuit against oil companies

1 hr ago - Updated 6:28 PM EDT, May 4, 2026 President Donald Trump’s administration moved Monday to block a lawsuit Minnesota officials filed almost six years ago alleging oil companies and a petroleum trade group deceived state residents about climate cha ... (AP)

Delta Air Lines to soon stop offering free snacks or drinks on hundreds of flights

1 hr ago - Monday 04 May 2026 20:04 EDT Delta Air Lines will stop offering free snacks or drinks on hundreds of flights starting in two weeks. Delta will cut its express service on flights under 350 miles, meaning customers will no longer enjoy a complimentary ... (The Independent)

'They're spinning': Republicans, grappling with midterm anxiety, go negative

2 hrs ago - 05/04/2026 06:16 PM EDT President Donald Trump on Monday gathered more than a hundred small business leaders at the White House to tout tax cuts included in his “Big Beautiful Bill.”. Some of his closest allies worry the president is wastin ... (Politico)

Obama Hits Back at Trump Over Racist AI Meme, Turning War Into a 'Video Game'

2 hrs ago - May 4th, 2026, 5:41 pm Former President Barack Obama offered his take on President Donald Trump posting an AI-generated image of him and his wife depicted as apes earlier in the year, which was widely decried as blatant racism. Obama spoke about th ... (MEDIAite)

Exclusive: US intelligence indicates limited new damage to Iran's nuclear program, sources say

3 hrs ago - May 4, 2026 4:36 PM EDT Updated 5 hours ago WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that the time Iran would need to build a nuclear weapon has not changed since last summer, when analysts estimated that a U.S.-Isr ... (Reuters)

Trump Administration Closes Watchdog Office For Immigration Detention Abuses

3 hrs ago - May 4, 2026, 04:25 PM EDT | Updated 8 hours ago The Department of Homeland Security is closing an office responsible for investigating misconduct and abuse in the immigration detention system, according to an internal email to DHS employees obtained ... (Huff Post)

Russia and Ukraine declare separate ceasefires ahead of WWII anniversary

3 hrs ago - May 4, 2026 / 4:00 PM EDT Russia on Monday declared a unilateral ceasefire with Ukraine between May 8-9, when Moscow marks its annual World War II Victory Day commemorations, and threatened a "massive missile strike" on Kyiv if Ukraine violated it. ... (CBS News/AFP)

Trump's plan to transfer millions of student-loan accounts to the Treasury is in the works, officials confirm

4 hrs ago - May 4, 2026, 3:17 PM ET The Trump administration is beginning a complicated process of transferring millions of student-loan borrowers to a new agency. The Treasury Department confirmed in an April letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren — released on ... (Business Insider)

Supreme Court lets Louisiana redistricting ruling take effect immediately, sparking angry words between Alito, Jackson

6 hrs ago - Politics Supreme Court lets Louisiana redistricting ruling take effect immediately, sparking angry words between Alito and Jackson By Joe Walsh May 4, 2026 / 10:36 PM EDT / CBS News The Supreme Court on Monday allowed last week's landmark decision st ... (CBS News)

More than 100 staff at Brookfield Zoo Chicago go on strike; zoo remains open to the public

6 hrs ago - Story by Todd Feurer • 12h More than 100 workers at Brookfield Zoo Chicago went on strike on Monday, amid a contract impasse, but the zoo said it's still open to the public and operating as usual. Teamsters Local 727, which represents animal car ... (CBS Chicago)

Roughly 200 Harvard Law Students Sign Letters Backing Graduate Student Strike

8 hrs ago - By Uy B. Pham, Crimson Staff Writer 8 hours ago Roughly 200 first-year Harvard Law School students — more than a third of the class — have signed letters supporting Harvard graduate student workers’ strike and urging their professors t ... (The Crimson)

AI fails to make inroads with cybercriminals, study finds

10 hrs ago - May 4, 2026 edited by Stephanie Baum, reviewed by Robert Egan Cybercriminals have been struggling to adopt AI in their work, reports the first-of-its-kind study that analyzed a dataset of 100 million posts from underground cybercrime communities. T ... (techxplore.com)

John Sterling, the Yankees' Most Enduring Announcer, Dies at 87

10 hrs ago - John Sterling, the radio play-by-play voice of the Yankees for more than 35 years, who was best known for punctuating his home run calls with colorful — if not wacky — phrases like “an A-bomb for A-Rod!” (for Alex Rodriguez) and & ... (NY Times)

From sirens to pellet bangs: Schools testing drones to prevent potential attackers

11 hrs ago - Posted 1:52 PM, May 04, 2026 Florida is the first state in the country to install drones on school campuses, and one high school is leading the way. About 40 drones are being installed at Deltona High School as part of a pilot program aimed at stopp ... (Scripps News)

Trump's 'revenge' campaign against defiant Republicans hits snag: 'Four people showed up'

12 hrs ago - May 4, 2026 7:30AM ET President Donald Trump is hoping to exert enormous influence on Indiana’s primary election on Tuesday as part of a “revenge” campaign against defiant Republican state lawmakers, but early indicators suggest that t ... (Raw Story)

SEC settles with Elon Musk over Twitter dispute

12 hrs ago - 05/04/26 5:58 PM ET The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached a settlement with Elon Musk over the delayed disclosure of his stake in Twitter, the platform now known as X, according to court documents. Musk, who purchased the social pl ... (The Hill)

Florida's Republican governor signs state's new congressional map into law

12 hrs ago - Mon 4 May 2026 14.46 EDT Last modified on Mon 4 May 2026 15.46 EDT Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, signed a new gerrymandered congressional district map into law Monday that gives Republicans an electoral advantage in four additional races in Nov ... (The Guardian)