Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 4h

The USDA is screwing the states by ordering them to implement SNAP work requirements practically overnight.

This means that families with teenagers older than 14, or grandparents who retired early to help care for their grandchildren, will suddenly find themselves without food. trib.al/E4dQdoG

8 39 83

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 4h

If you doubt that we’re in a new Gilded Age, check out the price of gold. Since Trump took office, it’s risen by 50% and what causes gold to rise is a falling dollar. trib.al/prk5Pav

The “gilded rococo nightmare” of Trump’s Oval Office is becoming a symbol of his gross economic mismanagement.

9 49 140

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 5h

New York AG Letitia James was indicted for alleged mortgage fraud, following Trump’s months-long campaign to remove his outspoken critic.

Who will personally present the government’s flimsy case? Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan (after Trump ousted the previous attorney). trib.al/AX9uBpW

Trump Finally Found a Stooge Willing to Go After Letitia James

Donald Trump is one step closer to getting revenge on the New York attorney general.

trib.al

5 29 78

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 6h

A federal judge in Illinois has ordered the Trump administration to stop beating, shooting at, and generally using violence against journalists and peaceful protesters. trib.al/4ZfMWqA

13 59 180

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 6h

"t’s becoming jarringly clear that there’s very little ... defenses standing in the way of Trump’s escalating authoritarianism." trib.al/YEEoEgh

9 31 93

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 6h

The IRS informed employees they would be “compensated on the earliest date possible." Then the agency flipped on its promise. trib.al/oELsQnE

2 30 55

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 7h

“I … met with the governor, met with the mayor, met with the chief of police, and the superintendent of the highway patrol. They’re all lying, and disingenuous, and dishonest people,” Noem said, because they wouldn’t back up her baseless claims that the streets were overrun with terrorists.

ICE Barbie Says an Entire State’s Worth of Officials Are “Lying”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is convinced, against all evidence, that Portland is a war zone.

trib.al

38 83 180

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 7h

For weeks, anti-immigration agents have tossed smoke bombs at people in cars, shot so-called “less lethal” weapons like rubber bullets and pepper balls, and deployed a staggering amount of tear gas, sometimes unleashing it almost casually into streets crowded with passersby. trib.al/EtwBDCJ

Trump Is Waging War on an American City

The real threat to people in Chicago (and Los Angeles and Portland) is our maniacal president.

trib.al

5 52 85

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 9h

The president could not be more plain: he's planning to use the shutdown to take revenge on Democrats.

During a Cabinet meeting, Trump announced the White House would be cutting congressionally approved programs during the closure—but only those supported by Dems. newrepublic.com/post/201554/...

11 28 64

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 10h

Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) didn't seem the least bit concerned that the Senate’s supplementary $50B fund—only 1/3 of the estimated loss in federal funding—would force hospitals to “think creatively about what kind of services we need."

It’s unclear how the money would be distributed. trib.al/UFyL8Hc

7 22 43

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 11h

Justice Department lawyers reposted President Trump’s statements and may have inadvertently endangered their prosecution of Luigi Mangione, violating the judge’s explicit orders that DOJ employees refrain from public comment about the case. trib.al/b9U7CY1

DOJ in Trouble After Lawyers Reposted Trump Rants on Luigi Mangione

The Justice Department’s case against Luigi Mangione just hit a major obstacle.

trib.al

66 430 1.7K

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 13h

No city is currently on fire, and if Chicago (and LA and Portland) is a war zone, the threat is our maniacal president attempting to turn federal law enforcement into his personal enforcers.

He doesn't even bother to lie convincingly; they are just meant to cast doubt on reality. trib.al/a66FEwJ

2 24 86

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 13h

Reverend David Black, the senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, was praying at the armed agents above him before being shot in the head with a pepper ball at least twice and falling to his knees.

Black said he could hear ICE laughing. trib.al/y6RQqAa

10 100 230

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 14h

“We took the freedom of speech away,” President Trump boasted in his opening remarks at his “antifa roundtable” Wednesday.

It was a jarring admission—perhaps a Freudian slip—from a president who is, indeed, evidently intent on eliminating free speech. trib.al/6RZEOqc

14 67 140

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

Trump has little to insulate him now. Vought is not some temporary White House employee who’s dabbling in the art of sabotaging the government before he returns to his “job” as the world’s richest man.

According to the president himself, he is the Grim Reaper personified. trib.al/k0viSvZ

Russ Vought Is Going to Damage Trump Even More Than Elon Musk Did

Americans, and even many Republicans in Congress, don’t like it when an unelected bureaucrat makes huge cuts to the government.

trib.al

5 40 110

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

Her notes for the Senate Judiciary Committee had nothing to do with her work leading the DOJ, or even the embattled border czar. Rather, Bondi had collected screenshots of social media posts, prewritten comebacks, and handwritten notes she hoped could give her a good “gotcha” moment.
trib.al/xhJJC2C

23 71 130

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

It may be hard for Trump to get convictions, but winning in court isn’t his aim; it never has been in the past. trib.al/zlf5Pde

Trump’s instinct is to follow the money. He will target “individual and institutional funders, and officers and employees of organizations" to scare them into complacency.

How Trump Became the Ringmaster of Left-Wing Violence

He’s goading bad actors on the left to give him a reason to harass his law-abiding critics.

trib.al

11 40 68

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

Noem said antifa is “just as dangerous” as ISIS with a completely straight face. trib.al/KLTVMrr

39 30 110

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

Trump’s extremist rhetoric and increasingly authoritarian policies have made 2025 “the first time in more than 30 years that left-wing attacks outnumber those from the far right.”

Granted, right-wing nuts killed 112 people between 2016 and 2025; left-wing nuts accounted for 13. trib.al/CAKCZJd

8 9 30

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

A prominent MAGA influencer who has “never stepped foot in the United States” illegally donated to a QAnon congressional candidate.

The right-wing influencer told Rolling Stone he had no idea he’d needed a green card to make donations to a political campaign. trib.al/oKynoc6

Rumen Naumovski has never even been to the United States.

trib.al

7 33 74

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

The Pentagon has to provide The New York Times information about Elon Musk’s security clearances, a federal judge ruled Wednesday—and the billionaire’s own posting habits helped decide the case. trib.al/7voNtjk

11 120 340

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

"When subsidies disappear, and a lot of these people find that their health insurance is suddenly unaffordable, you’re not going to have very many of them saying, 'It’s OK, because at least we’ve kept those illegal aliens from going to the emergency room.' They’re going to scream bloody murder."

Transcript: Marjorie Taylor Greene Tirade Wrecks Trump Shutdown Stance

As Greene admits the GOP is screwing the country on health care, a leading congressional scholar explains how Greene accidentally revealed the surprising weakness of Trump’s position in the shutdown standoff.

trib.al

11 51 150

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

Americans—and even many Republicans in Congress—don’t like it when an unelected bureaucrat makes huge cuts to the government. But the administration is already repeating its mistake of giving free rein to a nihilist.
trib.al/JiFlwNz

5 49 110

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

Senate Dems plan to force a vote on President Trump’s extrajudicial military strikes on foreign vessels he claims are smuggling drugs. trib.al/ghYcfgy

“If a president can unilaterally put people or groups on a list and kill them, there is no meaningful limit to his use of force."

3 34 120

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

Portland “burning” is dimwitted MAGA propaganda—but Trump is now threatening the Insurrection Act if governors or the courts *lawfully* exercise their roles.

It’s no accident this comes after Miller denounced the Portland ruling—by a Trump appointee, no less—as “legal insurrection.” trib.al/nhFNpMZ

12 52 97