Both chambers of Congress have approved legislation to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender and New York financier who died in federal custody. The House passed the measure 427-1, and the Senate approved it unanimously. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he supports full disclosure. The bill grants Attorney General Pam Bondi authority to redact or withhold information that could endanger national security or interfere with ongoing federal investigations. The scope of the files and the high-profile individuals associated with Epstein have been central to the debate surrounding the release. This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year Lawmakers have noted that a process is required to prevent defamation, and that being named in the files does not indicate involvement in criminal activity. The issue has been a point of political focus since the investigation into Epstein gained renewed attention. Some Democrats have circulated allegations that federal agents removed Trump’s name from the documents prior to their release. The claims were made as debate continued over the expected scope of disclosure and the individuals likely to be referenced in the material. The release of the files is expected to include information involving multiple public figures. Lawmakers have pointed to previous incidents involving communications connected to Epstein. Del. Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands exchanged text messages with Epstein in 2019 during a hearing with former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. During that hearing, Epstein sent her suggested questions. Plaskett had previously supported tax benefits that affected Epstein’s operations in the Virgin Islands. The order to release the files follows years of congressional interest in records associated with Epstein, whose criminal case involved charges of sex trafficking. The newly approved legislation sets out the process for handling the documents and outlines the attorney general’s authority regarding redactions and national security concerns.
https://www.lifezette.com/2025/11/epstein-records-set-for-unsealing-as-democrats-push-last-minute-conspiracy-claims-watch/
Tag Archives: donald trump
Trump urges Treasury Secretary Bessent to take Federal Reserve job
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) For the second time in two days, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would like to appoint Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to chair the Federal Reserve. Yet Bessent keeps saying he doesn’t want the job, Trump added, in comments to the U. S.-Saudi Investment Forum. “We’re thinking about him for the Fed, but he wants no part of it, he likes being secretary of the Treasury,” Trump said. “I think we’ll leave him so let’s cross your name off right, officially, right?” Trump has been sharply critical of the current Fed chair, Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May, for not cutting interest rates quickly enough. Trump’s pick as a replacement will almost certainly push for rapid interest rate cuts and likely institute wide-ranging changes in how the Fed operates. Bessent earlier this year published extensive criticisms of the Fed’s groundbreaking efforts to shore up financial markets and the economy after the 2008-2009 Great Recession and during the pandemic. Bessent is heading up the Trump administration’s search for a new Fed chair. Yet despite his protestations, he is also widely seen as a leading potential replacement for Powell. “He’s a top-tier candidate right now,” Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser to Trump in his first term, said. Trump “wants to shake things up, so I think he wants an outsider.” Two of the five candidates Bessent has named are current Fed officials: Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman. The other three would fit the outsider criteria: Kevin Hassett, currently a top White House economic official; Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor who has been highly critical of the Fed; and Rick Rieder, a senior managing director at asset manager BlackRock. Late Tuesday, in an interview By mid-December, “the president will meet the final three candidates and hopefully have an answer before Christmas,” Bessent said. Associated Press Writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.
https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2025/11/19/federal-reserve-bessent/
SEC Drops Crypto From 2026 Examination Priorities in Major Policy Shift
The U. S. SEC has released its examination priorities for the 2026 fiscal year, and for the first time in several years, crypto is not mentioned as a specific area of focus. The omission stands out, especially compared to the Gensler era, where crypto routinely appeared as a priority in annual exam documents. The shift aligns with the broader pro-crypto direction seen under President Donald Trump, whose administration has been active in deregulating the sector. A Noticeable Change From Previous Years In last year’s priorities under former Chair Gary Gensler, the SEC explicitly highlighted the offer, sale, trading, and advisory activity around crypto assets. Spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs were directly named, and the Division of Examinations pledged close monitoring of firms offering crypto-related services. This year’s document removes all of that. The SEC clarified that the published priorities are not exhaustive, but the absence of crypto marks a major shift from the agency’s past stance. Instead, the 2026 list centers on broad themes such as fiduciary duty, custody, customer protection, and oversight of brokerage and advisory firms. Focus Moves to Emerging Tech and Cybersecurity While crypto is not mentioned, the SEC did highlight risks around emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and automated investment tools. The Division said it will closely review how firms deploy these tools and whether they expose investors to new risks. Cybersecurity is another major theme for 2026. The SEC plans to pay “particular attention” to how financial firms respond to and recover from cyber incidents, including ransomware attacks. This mirrors the growing concern across federal agencies regarding digital-era threats to financial infrastructure. Also Read : Vitalik Buterin Says FTX Collapse Proves Why Decentralization Matters A Pro-Crypto Policy Environment Under Trump The change in tone comes as the U. S. crypto industry expands rapidly under President Trump, who has embraced the sector both publicly and through his family’s ventures. Trump-affiliated businesses have launched or invested in a trading platform, a mining operation, a stablecoin, and multiple token projects. Current SEC Chair Paul Atkins emphasized that examinations should not be a “gotcha” exercise and that firms should be able to engage transparently with regulators. His comments reflect a broader shift away from aggressive enforcement and toward cooperation and clarity, an approach welcomed by many crypto firms. Crypto Moves Toward Normalization, Not Exemption Analyst Mason Blak C noted that the removal of the crypto section does not mean the SEC is abandoning oversight. Instead, crypto is no longer treated as a standalone “problem area.” It is being folded into the broader regulatory system alongside other assets and technologies. The agency can still intervene whenever digital assets pose risks, but the approach is shifting toward normalization rather than punishment. He explained that this moment marks crypto’s transition from the fringe to a regulated part of the financial mainstream, not a victory lap, but a meaningful step toward long-term legitimacy. FAQs.
https://coinpedia.org/news/sec-drops-crypto-from-2026-examination-priorities-in-major-policy-shift/
‘Simply lying’: Nobel economist bashes Trump’s ‘false’ claims on the state of the economy
A Nobel Prize-winning economist has criticized President Donald Trump’s “false” claims about the state of the U.S. economy in a new Substack essay published on Sunday.
Paul Krugman, who won the 2008 Nobel Prize in economics for his work on trade theory, argued that Trump is “simply lying” about the economy’s condition. While data indicate that the economy is faring better than popular sentiment might suggest, Krugman highlighted several warning signs — including the continued rise in grocery prices.
“Donald Trump continues to claim that grocery prices are ‘way down,’” Krugman wrote. “Yet anyone who does their own food shopping unlike Trump — can tell you that Trump’s statement is false.”
Krugman further explained that Trump’s economy has created what’s known as a “vibecession” — an economy that feels like it’s in a recession to consumers even if the economic data doesn’t support that conclusion.
“Many observers have compared Trump’s predicament with the problems faced by the Biden administration, whose attempts to highlight good economic data alienated many voters who felt their concerns weren’t being taken seriously,” Krugman added.
“In one important way this is false equivalence: Biden and his officials were pointing to actual data that did indeed seem to paint a relatively positive picture of the economy. Trump and company, by contrast, are simply lying.
“But although Biden and his people were honest, while Trump and his people aren’t, it’s true that we now have two presidencies in a row in which Americans are far more negative about the economy than the usual measures would have predicted,” he concluded.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2674300425/
Epstein vote looms over House
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers seeking to force the release of files related to the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein are predicting a big win in the House this week, with a “deluge of Republicans” expected to vote for their bill. This would buck GOP leadership and President Donald Trump, who for months have disparaged the effort.
The bill aims to compel the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information concerning the investigation into his death in federal prison. Information about Epstein’s victims or ongoing federal investigations could be redacted.
“There could be 100 or more” Republican votes, said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) during Sunday news show appearances discussing the legislation. “I’m hoping to get a veto-proof majority on this legislation when it comes up for a vote.”
Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced a discharge petition in July to force a vote on their bill. This is a rarely successful tool that allows a majority of members to bypass House leadership and bring a floor vote.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized the discharge petition effort and even sent members home early for their August recess when the GOP’s legislative agenda was disrupted by the push for an Epstein vote. Democrats also claim that the seating of Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was stalled to delay her becoming the 218th member to sign the petition, which is the threshold needed to force a vote. She became the 218th signature moments after taking the oath of office last week.
Massie said Johnson, Trump, and others who have been critical of his efforts will be “taking a big loss this week.”
“I’m not tired of winning yet, but we are winning,” Massie added.
### The View from GOP Leadership
Johnson seems to expect the House will decisively back the Epstein bill.
“We’ll just get this done and move it on. There’s nothing to hide,” he said, noting that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has already been releasing “far more information than the discharge petition, their little gambit.”
The vote comes as new documents raise fresh questions about Epstein and his associates, including a 2019 email Epstein wrote to a journalist stating that Trump “knew about the girls.” The White House has accused Democrats of selectively leaking these emails to smear the Republican president.
Johnson insisted that Trump “has nothing to hide from this.”
“They’re doing this to go after President Trump on this theory that he has something to do with it. He does not,” Johnson said.
Trump’s association with Epstein is well-established, and the president’s name was included in records released by his own Justice Department in February as part of an effort to satisfy public interest in the sex trafficking investigation. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and the mere inclusion of a name in the investigation files does not imply guilt.
Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, had many prominent acquaintances in political and celebrity circles besides Trump.
### Modest Expectations and Calls for Accountability
Khanna expressed more modest expectations for the vote count than Massie but hoped for 40 or more Republicans to join the bipartisan effort.
“I don’t even know how involved Trump was,” Khanna said. “There are a lot of other people involved who have to be held accountable.”
Khanna also urged Trump to meet with survivors of abuse. Some of those survivors will be at the Capitol on Tuesday for a news conference, he said.
Massie warned that Republican lawmakers who fear losing Trump’s endorsement because of how they vote will have a mark on their record if they vote “no,” which could hurt their political prospects in the long term.
“The record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump’s presidency,” Massie said.
On the Republican side, three members have joined Massie in signing the discharge petition: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Nancy Mace (S.C.), and Lauren Boebert (Colo.).
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/16/epstein-vote-looms-over-house/
Trump Makes Indiana ‘RINO’ State Senators Famous in Blistering Takedown As They Defy Him on Redistricting
President Donald Trump has weighed in on a pair of Indiana Republicans involved in thwarting redistricting efforts in the Hoosier State ahead of next year’s midterm elections. As you might have guessed, he wasn’t pleased with their actions.
As reported by RedState’s Teri Christoph, Indiana’s Republican Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray announced earlier this week that the chamber, controlled by the GOP, would not reconvene in December to vote on redistricting. Bray, along with state Sen. Greg Goode (R), became the targets of the President’s ire as he railed against their “politically correct” cowardice for developing an acute case of weak knees at the thought of redistricting.
“Very disappointed in Indiana State Senate Republicans, led by RINO Senators Rod Bray and Greg Goode, for not wanting to redistrict their State, allowing the United States Congress to perhaps gain two more Republican seats,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform.
He rightly points out that Democrats have engaged in this practice for years, but when it comes time for the GOP to fight fire with fire, they can’t summon the courage and instead fall back on their tired, losing strategies.
“Because of these two politically correct type ‘gentlemen,’ and a few others, they could be depriving Republicans of a Majority in the House,” Trump said, noting that in a highly contentious midterm race to control Congress, it amounts to “a very big deal! California is trying to pick up five seats, and no one is complaining about that,” he continued.
“It’s weak ‘Republicans’ that cause our Country such problems. It’s why we have crazy Policies and Ideas that are so bad for America.”
### Trump Criticizes Governor Mike Braun
The President also took aim at Indiana Governor Mike Braun (R), whom he refers to as a friend, for not getting his party in line on the redistricting effort.
“Braun, perhaps, is not working the way he should to get the necessary votes,” he said, before making the subtle suggestion that any Republican opposed to redistricting “should be primaried.”
For his part, Braun has expressed his own disgust on the matter.
“I called for our legislators to convene to ensure Hoosiers’ voices in Washington, D.C., are not diluted by the Democrats’ gerrymandering,” Braun said. “Our state senators need to do the right thing and show up to vote for fair maps. Hoosiers deserve to know where their elected officials stand on important issues.”
However, the President seems unimpressed with the effort so far. He demanded that Bray and Goode get on board with the voters in Indiana, a state he carried by nearly 20 points, and warned that any other Republicans in opposition would be publicly named later today.
They “should do their job, and do it now,” Trump insisted in all caps. “If not, let’s get them out of office, ASAP.”
### Reactions from Trump Supporters and the Republicans Named
Several Trump supporters on social media, as Christoph highlighted, were outraged at the Indiana GOP for taking an ‘L’ on what many saw as an easy win that could help keep control of the House.
Trump advisor Alex Brueswitz described the complete surrender as “a monumental betrayal” of the president.
“Spineless RINO ‘legislators’ have sabotaged and buried Republicans’ vital redistricting push. And they are letting Gavin Newsom & left-wing Democrats get closer to stealing the House,” Brueswitz said.
For his part, Senator Greg Goode has insisted all along that he’s not about to succumb to “bullying.”
“For those trying to bully me on redistricting, I love you,” he wrote on X. “I pray to our Lord and Savior for wisdom and reflect on political heroes who stood up for the greater good above the politics of the day.”
Making that claim while bowing down to bullying redistricting efforts by the Democrats is an extreme lack of self-awareness.
—
**Editor’s Note:**
Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2025/11/16/trump-makes-indiana-rino-state-senators-famous-in-blistering-takedown-as-they-defy-him-on-redistricting-n2196251
‘Nose-diving confidence’ in Trump’s economy has experts making a suggestion
Despite President Donald Trump’s message of affordability resonating with working-class Americans in 2024, that pattern is shifting as “diverging fortunes for wealthy and poor Americans has tanked confidence in the economy—and the president who promised to solve the affordability crisis in the U.S.,” writes Sasha Rogelberg in *Fortune*.
While a wave of working-class voters flooded the Republican Party ahead of the 2024 presidential election, that same group sent a loud message in the early November off-year elections, electing Democrats in every single race in which they were running, Rogelberg notes.
Economists say that all Trump has done thus far is make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Apollo chief economist Trosten Slok pointed out that wage growth for the lowest-income Americans plummeted to its lowest level in about a decade, while wage growth for the highest-income group surpassed all other income levels, citing data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
The housing market has become “frozen,” Rogelberg adds, because “it’s simply unaffordable to sell your house and buy another one with mortgage rates above 6 percent.” Sean Dobson, CEO of The Amherst Group, says, “We’ve probably made housing unaffordable for a whole generation of Americans.”
Much of these indicators can be traced directly to Trump, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics analysts Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen. “Data show wage growth has slowed more in the trade and transportation sector, and to a lower level, than any other major sector since the end of last year. Fears workers would be able to secure larger wage increases in response to the tariffs look highly unlikely to be realized,” the analysts write.
Under Trump, the economy is what Peter Atwater, adjunct professor of economics at William & Mary, calls K-shaped, in which different sectors or groups experience wildly different outcomes—like the two diverging arms of a “K.”
“What we have today is a small group of individuals who feel intense certainty paired with relentless power control—and on the other, it is a sea of despair,” Atwater tells *Fortune*. “And that’s the piece that never gets talked about.”
Robert Armstrong agrees with Atwater in his *Financial Times* column, writing, “It could be that after five years of going nowhere, households in the bottom half of the wealth and income distributions have started to anticipate a bleaker future and are changing their spending habits accordingly.”
Rogelberg points out that nose-diving confidence in the U.S. economy is reflected in the attitudes of Republicans and independents who voted for Trump. According to a national NBC News poll, about 30 percent of Republicans believe Trump has fallen short of their expectations regarding the economy.
Two-thirds of independents blamed Trump for increasing inflation, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, and CNN polling data shows Trump’s approval rating has reached its lowest level since he took office the second time.
Peter Loge, professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University and former senior advisor to the FDA commissioner under President Barack Obama, says that Trump’s struggling economy is a clarion call for change.
“People want to know that they can afford a medical bill if they get sick, their kids will have a better future than they do, or have a chance of a better future. And if voters feel like things aren’t working, they fire their politicians in charge to hire new ones,” Loge explains.
“Voters are pretty well saying, ‘We don’t think whatever the Republicans are doing is making stuff less expensive. We need life to be more affordable and less chaotic. It’s pretty unavoidably chaotic. Now we’re going to bring in new people to try a new thing,’” he adds.
https://www.alternet.org/trump-economy-nosedive/
The timeline for SNAP benefits remains uncertain, even after Congress agrees to end the shutdown
**Congress Moves to Reopen Government, But SNAP Benefit Timing Remains Uncertain**
*By Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press*
Congress has taken a major step toward reopening the government, but there’s still uncertainty about when one of the most far-reaching impacts of the closure will be resolved: when all 42 million Americans who receive SNAP food aid will have access to their full November benefits.
On Wednesday, the House adopted a plan to reopen and sent it to President Donald Trump to sign. One provision calls for restarting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but it does not clarify exactly when benefits will be loaded onto the debit cards beneficiaries use to buy groceries.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which runs SNAP, said in an email Wednesday that funds could be available “upon the government reopening, within 24 hours for most states.” The department did not immediately answer questions about which states might face delays or whether the 24-hour timeline applies to states or directly to the cards used by recipients.
There has been a series of court battles over the fate of the nation’s largest government food program, which serves about 1 in 8 Americans. Here are some key points about the situation:
### When SNAP Funds Become Available Could Vary by State
Seesawing court rulings and changing guidance from the USDA have led to unequal distribution of benefits across states. Some beneficiaries have already received their full monthly allocations, while others have received nothing. A few states have issued only partial payments.
States report it’s faster to provide full benefits than to do the calculations and computer programming required for partial payments. At least 19 states plus the District of Columbia issued full benefits to at least some recipients last week, according to an Associated Press tally. Many did so within a day, during the narrow window between a Nov. 6 court ruling requiring full payments and a Nov. 7 U.S. Supreme Court decision halting them.
Jessica Garon, spokesperson for the American Public Human Services Association, anticipates most states will be able to issue full benefits within three days after receiving the go-ahead, while others may take up to a week. States that have sent no November benefits yet, such as South Carolina and West Virginia, will likely be the quickest to disburse funds. However, sixteen states have already loaded EBT cards with partial benefits, and some may face technical hurdles issuing the remaining amount, according to Carolyn Vega, a policy analyst at advocacy group Share Our Strength.
### Delays in Benefits Are a Problem for Recipients
For millions of Americans, even knowing benefits are on the way is not enough—when they arrive matters. About 42 million lower-income Americans receive SNAP benefits, averaging around $190 monthly per person. Many say the benefits do not—and are not intended to—cover the full cost of groceries in a normal month, even with careful budgeting. Delays make matters worse.
Doretha Washington, 41, of St. Louis, has a husband and six children, but not enough money to cover all their food needs. Even though her husband works servicing heating and cooling systems, the family relies on SNAP. They had received nothing in November, although Missouri announced Tuesday that partial benefits would be issued.
“Now it’s making things difficult because we can’t pay our bills in full and keep food in here,” Washington said this week. “I’m down to three days of food and trying to figure out what to do.” She has been rationing what they have. Others have turned to food charities, but report long lines and low supplies.
### Cutting Off Funds Left State Governments Scrambling
The USDA told states on Oct. 24 that it would not fund SNAP for November if the shutdown continued, leaving states scrambling. Most Democratic-led states sued to have the funding restored. Both Democratic and Republican-led states also launched emergency efforts, including using state funds to pay for benefits, boosting food banks, and deploying the National Guard to help with food distribution.
Other states used their allotted SNAP money only after a judge ordered the Trump administration to cover the full cost for the month. The legislation to reopen the government, passed by the Senate on Monday, calls for states to be reimbursed for funds spent running programs typically paid for by the federal government. However, it’s not immediately clear which situations will qualify in the case of SNAP.
In the meantime, the USDA told states Tuesday that it would reimburse them for paying out partial SNAP benefits, under a system where recipients get up to 65% of their regular allocations—and even states that paid the full amount can receive partial reimbursements. It also assured states it would not reduce amounts on cards for recipients in states that paid full benefits.
Democratic-led states that sued for benefits to be released said in a filing Wednesday that the late-breaking information “illustrates the chaos and confusion occasioned by USDA’s multiple, conflicting guidance documents.”
*Associated Press reporters Margery A. Beck and David A. Lieb contributed to this story.*
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/12/timeline-for-snap-benefits/
Klein: Democrats were on a roll. Why stop now?
Back in September, when I was reporting an article on whether Democrats should shut down the government, I kept hearing the same warning from veterans of past shutdown fights: The president controls the bully pulpit. He controls, to some degree, which parts of the government stay open and which parts close. It is very, very hard for the opposition party to win a shutdown.
Which makes it all the more remarkable that Democrats were winning this one.
Polls showed that most voters blamed Republicans, not Democrats, for the current shutdown—perhaps because President Donald Trump was bulldozing the East Wing of the White House rather than negotiating to reopen the government. Trump’s approval rating has been falling in CNN’s tracking poll; it dipped into the 30s for the first time since he took office again.
And last week, Democrats wrecked Republicans in the elections, and Trump blamed his party’s losses in part on the shutdown. Democrats were riding higher than they have been in months.
### Fruitless Deal
Then, over the weekend, a group of Senate Democrats broke ranks and negotiated a deal to end the shutdown in return for—if we’re being honest—very little.
The guts of the deal are this: Food assistance—both SNAP and WIC, I was told—will get a bit more funding, and there are a few other modest concessions on spending levels elsewhere in the government. Laid-off federal workers will be rehired, and furloughed federal workers given back pay. Most of the government is funded only until the end of January. (So get ready: We could be doing this again in a few months.)
Most gallingly, the deal does nothing to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits over which Democrats ostensibly shut down the government in the first place. All it offers is a promise from Republicans to hold a vote on the tax credits in the future. Of the dozen or so House and Senate Democrats I spoke to over the past 24 hours, every one expected that vote to fail.
### The Strange Role of ACA Subsidies
To understand why the shutdown ended with such a whimper, you need to understand the strange role the ACA subsidies played in it. Democrats said the shutdown was about the subsidies, but for most of them, it wasn’t. It was about Trump’s authoritarianism. It was about showing their base—and themselves—that they could fight back. It was about treating an abnormal political moment abnormally.
The ACA subsidies emerged as the shutdown demand because they could keep the caucus sufficiently united. They put Democrats on the right side of public opinion—even self-identified MAGA voters wanted the subsidies extended—and held the quivering Senate coalition together.
You shut the government down with the Democratic caucus you have, not with the Democratic caucus you want.
But the shutdown was built on a cracked foundation. There were Senate Democrats who didn’t want a shutdown at all. There were Senate Democrats who did want a shutdown but thought it strange to make their demand so narrow: Was winning on health care premiums really winning the right fight? Should Democrats really vote to fund a government turning toward authoritarianism as long as health insurance subsidies were preserved? And what if winning on the health care fight was actually a political gift to Trump?
Absent a fix, the average health insurance premium for 20 million Americans will more than double. The premium shock will hit red states particularly hard. Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s longtime pollster, had released a survey of competitive House districts showing that letting the tax credits expire might be lethal to Republican efforts to hold the House. Why were Democrats fighting so hard to neutralize their best issue in 2026?
### Inverted Logic
The political logic of the shutdown fight was inverted: If Democrats got the tax credits extended—if they “won”—they would be solving a huge electoral problem for Republicans. If Republicans successfully allowed the tax credits to expire—if they “won”—they would be handing Democrats a cudgel with which to beat them in the elections.
This is why Sen. Chuck Schumer’s compromise, which offered to reopen the government if Republicans extended the tax credits for a year, struck many Democrats as misguided. Morally, it might be worth sacrificing an electoral edge to lower health insurance premiums. But a one-year extension solved the Republicans’ electoral problem without solving the policy problem. Why on earth would they do that?
In any case, Republicans were not interested in Schumer’s offer. Trump himself has shown no interest in a deal.
Rather than negotiating over health care spending, Trump has been ratcheting up the pain the shutdown is causing. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or fired. The administration has been withholding food assistance from Americans who desperately need it. Airports are tipping into chaos as air traffic controllers go without pay.
More than anything else, this is what led some Senate Democrats to cut a deal: Trump’s willingness to hurt people exceeds their willingness to see people get hurt.
I want to give them their due on this: They are hearing from their constituents and seeing the mounting problems, and they are trying to do what they see as the responsible, moral thing. They do not believe that holding out will lead to Trump restoring the subsidies. They fear that their Republican colleagues would, under mounting pressure, do as Trump had demanded and abolish the filibuster. (Whether that would be a good or a bad thing is a subject for another column.)
This, in the end, is the calculation the defecting Senate Democrats are making: They don’t think a longer shutdown will cause Trump to cave. They just think it will cause more damage.
### A Difficult Choice
If I were in the Senate, I wouldn’t vote for this compromise. Shutdowns are an opportunity to make an argument, and the country was just starting to pay attention. If Trump wanted to cancel flights over Thanksgiving rather than keep health care costs down, I don’t see why Democrats should save him from making his priorities so exquisitely clear.
And I worry that Democrats have just taught Trump that they will fold under pressure. That’s the kind of lesson he remembers.
But it’s worth keeping this in perspective: The shutdown was a skirmish, not the real battle. Both sides were fighting for position, and Democrats, if you look at the polls, are ending up in a better one than they were when they started. They elevated their best issue—health care—and set the stage for voters to connect higher premiums with Republican rule.
It’s not a win, but given how badly shutdowns often go for the opposition party, it’s better than a loss.
*Ezra Klein is a New York Times columnist.*
https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/11/12/klein-democrats-were-on-a-roll-why-stop-now/
Ghislaine Maxwell’s alleged prison perks spark Raskin probe into Trump administration
Rep. Jamie Raskin sent a sharply worded six-page letter to President Donald Trump on Sunday following new information his committee received from a whistleblower. The whistleblower alleges that Ghislaine Maxwell is preparing a “commutation application” for the Trump administration and receiving preferential treatment while incarcerated.
Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, accused the Trump administration of allowing “a corrupt misuse of law-enforcement resources.” He demanded that Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche testify before the Judiciary Committee immediately to “answer for this corrupt misuse of law enforcement resources and potential exchange of favors for false testimony exonerating you and other Epstein accomplices.”
The letter serves as a follow-up to an August 12 letter that Raskin and other Democrats sent to the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons regarding Maxwell’s transfer to Federal Prison Camp Bryan. This minimum-security facility, according to Raskin, represents an “apparent flagrant violation of BOP policies,” including one that explicitly prohibits the placement of sex offenders in such facilities.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking and other offenses connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the former financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019.
Previously, Maxwell was held at FCI Tallahassee in Florida, a “low security” prison for men and women. FPC Bryan, where she was transferred, is a “minimum security” camp exclusively for women. The transfer followed Maxwell’s two-day meeting in July with Deputy Attorney General Blanche in Tallahassee. During this meeting, her attorney stated that they discussed “about 100 names” associated with Epstein, after the Trump administration promised to release additional information about the deceased sex offender.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/ghislaine-maxwells-alleged-prison-perks-spark-raskin-probe/story?id=127368629