Join Us Tonight

Tonight at 6:00 p.m. ET we’re hosting a TPM member event, “Will There Be Justice For Trump?” We’ll start with a panel discussion of the question with Jessica Levinson (clinical professor of law and director of Loyola Law School’s Public Service Institute), Mary McCord (acting assistant attorney general for National Security from 2016 to 2017 and the legal director at Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection), Tierney Sneed and me.

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‘Abuse Of Power’: Cuomo Sparks Outrage Over Family’s Special Access To COVID Testing

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) sparked outrage after multiple reports on Wednesday night revealed that his administration had arranged VIP access to state-administered coronavirus testing for members of his family and other well-connected people last year.

Continue reading “‘Abuse Of Power’: Cuomo Sparks Outrage Over Family’s Special Access To COVID Testing”

Texas AG Conceals Messages He Sent During Pro-Trump Rally And Insurrection

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who led the effort to get the Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 election for ex-President Donald Trump, is refusing to give the media the texts and emails he sent and received on Jan 6., the day he spoke at the D.C. Trump rally that led to the Capitol insurrection, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Continue reading “Texas AG Conceals Messages He Sent During Pro-Trump Rally And Insurrection”

Dem Chair In Iowa 2 Case Calls Out GOP’s ‘Coordinated Public Campaign’ To Smear Process

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), chair of the House Administration Committee, called out Republicans Wednesday night for running a “coordinated public campaign” to taint the process for settling the contested election in Iowa’s second district. 

Continue reading “Dem Chair In Iowa 2 Case Calls Out GOP’s ‘Coordinated Public Campaign’ To Smear Process”

Trump Admin Gave Black Farmers Only 0.1% Of COVID Relief Funds For Farmers, Says Biden Agriculture Sec.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the Washington Post that the Trump administration gave only a tiny slice of the funds from its Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to Black farmers.

Continue reading “Trump Admin Gave Black Farmers Only 0.1% Of COVID Relief Funds For Farmers, Says Biden Agriculture Sec.”

Biden Admin Touts Investment Of $10B To Expand Access To COVID Vaccines And Build Confidence

The White House said Thursday that the Biden administration will dedicate nearly $10 billion to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines for the high risk communities that have been struck hard by the pandemic, while also funneling resources into boosting vaccine confidence across the country.

Continue reading “Biden Admin Touts Investment Of $10B To Expand Access To COVID Vaccines And Build Confidence”

How’s The Messaging Campaign Going?

I’ve mentioned several times in recent weeks that it is critical Democrats learn (yet another) lesson of the early Obama years. Good policy doesn’t make for good politics. Not by itself. You have to do the good policy and combine it with good politics. That means many things but the first is effectively telling and reminding voters what you did. With the recent COVID relief bill that means an on-going and robust process of messaging connecting elements of the bill with unfolding events over the next 18 months. You can’t wait until a few months before the election. It has to be consistent throughout. The administration may not be putting Joe Biden’s name on all the relief checks. But it’s essential to do something equivalent to that as vaccines rollout, checks hit people’s bank accounts and more.

With that in mind we did an Inside Briefing earlier this week with Guy Cecil, Chair of PrioritiesUSA, which is now the biggest Dem-affiliated outside group. Any such effort will inevitably fall largely on groups like Priorities. So I wanted to get an understanding of, is this happening? What’s the plan? I found the discussion really informative and helpful so this morning we’re sharing the briefing with all members. You can watch it after the jump.

Continue reading “How’s The Messaging Campaign Going?”

Cuomo’s Family Got VIP Access To COVID Tests Last Year When Resources Were Scarce

The administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) arranged privileged access to state-administered coronavirus testing for members of his family and other influential people last year even as a majority of New Yorkers struggled to access scarce testing, according to multiple reports.

Continue reading “Cuomo’s Family Got VIP Access To COVID Tests Last Year When Resources Were Scarce”

Biden EPA Chief Pledges To Clean House After Trump Admin’s War On Science

Michael Regan, President Joe Biden’s freshly sworn in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, is seeking to clean up the mess left behind by the previous administration’s politically motivated attacks on science.

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Senate Confirms First Openly Transgender Official As Assistant Health Secretary

The Senate confirmed Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services in a 52-48 vote on Wednesday, making her the first openly transgender federal official confirmed by the chamber. Continue reading “Senate Confirms First Openly Transgender Official As Assistant Health Secretary”