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Truthout @truthout.org · 9h

House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats have condemned Trump's push for regime change in Venezuela after the president unilaterally declared the U.S. is engaged in “armed conflict” last week. “Congress can’t let any president start [a war] illegally or unilaterally.” the group added.

Democrats Warn Trump’s Goal for “Illegal” War With Venezuela Is Regime Change

“The American people don’t want another war,” said the Democrats of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 9h

As the administration jails both immigrants and protesters, we need to organize to protect ourselves, our co-workers, and our neighbors. Our communities are our humanity.

Pissed-Off Doctors Aren’t Enough to Combat Trump’s Attacks on Public Health

Organizing in the South shows everyday people must step in when a society lurches off its rails.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 10h

There are roughly 14,000 cases a year in Colorado in which courts approved taking people’s wages because of unpaid medical bills. In several cases, hospitals even won permission to take the pay of their own employees who had unpaid bills from treatment at the facilities.

Workers’ Wages Continue to Be Garnished to Pay Off Medical Debt

This aggressive collection practice is widespread even in a state considered to have strong consumer protections.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 10h

“If I had to enact [the Insurrection Act], I’d do it,” Trump said, stating he might do so if “courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up.” There is zero evidence demonstrating that an “insurrection” is happening in either Chicago or Portland.

Trump May Invoke Insurrection Act to Override Courts That Block His National Guard Orders

“If I had to enact it, I’d do it,” Trump told reporters on Monday.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 11h

Nearly 10,000 Palestinians have been reported missing by their families in Gaza, their fates unknown, with likely thousands more nowhere to be found because they were killed with their entire family unit, health officials have said. About 6,000 people are believed to be buried under the rubble.

Nearly 10K Palestinians Reported Missing by Families in Gaza, Officials Say

This includes 6,000 people believed to be buried under the rubble, though the true count is likely far higher.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 11h

The Trump administration is reportedly weighing the privatization of federal student loans, fulfilling yet another Project 2025 agenda item. Meanwhile, he has slashed programs that helped those in debt pay their loans.

Channeling Project 2025 Playbook, Trump Admin Weighs Privatizing Student Loans

Critics have warned that privatization will put even more borrowers in precarious situations.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 12h

“Without U.S. money, weapons and political support, the Israeli military could not have committed such rapid, widespread destruction of human lives and infrastructure in Gaza, or escalated its warfare so easily to the regional level by bombing Syria, Lebanon, Qatar and Iran.”

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Truthout @truthout.org · 12h

The U.S. has spent over $30 billion supporting the Israeli military and conducting war across the Middle East over the first two years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza — a genocide only made possible by the U.S.’s financial support, a new report concludes.

Report: US Spent Over $30B Backing Israel, Regional Wars in 2 Years of Genocide

This is just the “tip of the iceberg,” Costs of War noted, as many other other transfers haven’t been disclosed.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 12h

“There’s no emergency,” says Yohnka, who blames the administration for needlessly escalating tensions in Chicago, seemingly in search of excuses for more violence. “And when anybody protests, then that’s seized upon by the administration as a claim for the need to bring in further forces.”

ICE Escalates Raids as Illinois Officials Denounce Troop Deployment to Chicago

Ed Yohnka of the ACLU of Illinois discusses how the ongoing immigration crackdown is putting communities at risk.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 12h

The former U.S. surgeons general appointed by every Republican and Democratic president since George H.W. Bush have written an op-ed warning Americans that RFK Jr. is endangering the health of the nation by leading the department down a road which lacks scientific integrity and transparency.

6 Former Surgeons General Say RFK Jr. Is Endangering the Health of the Nation

The bipartisan group of surgeons general included Democratic and Republican appointees dating back to the early 1990s.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 13h

In Gaza, another humanitarian crisis has emerged: the soaring displacement expenses — or, as many people in Gaza bitterly describe it, “The fees you pay to become homeless in the south.” Tents cost $1,000 and securing a patch of land to pitch it on can be almost as costly.

Israel’s “Safe Zones” in Gaza Offer No Safety. Many Can’t Afford to Flee Anyway.

Displacement costs, which many call “the fees you pay to become homeless in the south,” have reached nearly $5,000.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 13h

An account given in court by the attorney of a woman who was shot by a Border Patrol agent “really makes it sounds like” the agent “tried to murder an anti-ICE protester in Chicago and DHS lied to cover for him,” said one researcher.

Attorney Says Video Betrays DHS Account of Border Patrol Shooting in Chicago

An agent shot a woman after federal officers accused her of driving toward them in the Brighton Park neighborhood.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 17h

A recent analysis considering a 10% drop in people who are eligible to receive disability-based disbursements suggested that 750,000 fewer people would receive benefits from the program over the next 10 years, with another 80,000 widows and children who benefit from the program also being affected.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 17h

The Trump White House is reportedly planning on drastically changing how the Social Security Administration calculates whether a person is eligible for disability payments, by eliminating or altering age as a consideration.

White House Plan Could Eliminate Age as Factor in Disability Eligibility for Social Security

Sources say the changes to Social Security are “a priority” for Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

"Remaining in the city was impossible, as Israeli forces killed anyone who refused to leave. At the same time, we also knew that life in tents — stripped of the most basic necessities and overshadowed by the uncertainty of whether we would ever return home — was simply another form of death."

“Just End the War and Return Me to My Neighborhood”: Report From Southern Gaza

The despair we are living through keeps us clinging to the news, scanning for headlines containing the word “ceasefire.”…

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

ICE, immigration courts, and the rest of the deportation-machine agencies are humming along as if it’s still September 2025; only 5% of Homeland Security personnel are being furloughed, compared to 89% at the EPA and 87% at the beleaguered Department of Education.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

As crucial services grind to a halt and federal workers go without pay, Donald Trump is using the ongoing government shutdown to do what he does best: grab more power.

Government Shutdown Gives Trump Yet Another Opportunity to Expand His Power

Project 2025 architect Russell Vought wants to seize the shutdown to further slash spending with mass federal layoffs.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

Five years ago, the United Nations concluded that conversion therapy could amount to torture and recommended it be banned. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will consider a case that could greenlight it for LGBTQ+ youth across the nation.

Will SCOTUS Greenlight Conversion Therapy Even Though the UN Calls It “Torture”?

The outcome of “Chiles v. Salazar” could have major implications for conversion therapy bans across the country.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

Trump’s “deployment of federalized troops to Illinois is patently unlawful,” reads the complaint from the state and city. “Plaintiffs ask this court to halt the illegal, dangerous, and unconstitutional federalization of members of the National Guard of the United States.”

Illinois Lawsuit Seeks to Block Trump’s Deployment of National Guard Troops to Chicago

Americans “should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military,” the lawsuit states.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

NSPM-7 defines domestic terrorism priorities to include “civil unrest,” which means the FBI will almost certainly turn its powers to conduct “enterprise” investigations into terrorism or racketeering on those who would challenge power, such as unions.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

Labor Notes recently released a guide to help organize for the much-anticipated May Day general strike in…2028. It’s useful info, but it's still 937 days away. At the rate the Trump administration is moving, there might not be much left of unions by the scheduled date.

Is Organized Labor at Risk Under Trump’s War on Anti-Capitalist “Terrorism”?

Trump’s national security directive could imperil unions if worker actions can be deemed a threat to the US.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

Global condemnation is mounting as hundreds of international activists remain in Israeli prison days after the military raided and captured dozens of boats in the Global Sumud Flotilla. Greta Thunberg told Swedish officials she was held in a cell infested with bedbugs and deprived of food and water.

Journalist on Gaza Flotilla Describes “Torturous Conditions” in Israeli Custody

“They were throwing people’s medicine in the bin in front of them and laughing in their faces,” says Kieran Andrieu.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

A federal judge based in Nashville, Tennessee, said that there is a “realistic likelihood” that the human trafficking charges against Abrego Garcia were a “vindictive” action by the Trump administration after he filed a successful lawsuit challenging his illegal deportation to El Salvador.

Newer Charges From Trump Administration Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia Appear “Vindictive,” Judge Rules

The ruling allows Abrego Garcia’s lawyers to pursue evidence and testimony from Trump administration officials.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

Summer Lee and other lawmakers have sent a letter to the DHS demanding information on any plans ICE has to use Graphite, a spyware program that can access — without the owner’s knowledge or consent — a phone’s location data, photos, and encrypted applications, including WhatsApp and Signal.

Lawmakers Demand Information About Potential Use of Paragon Spyware by ICE

The lawmakers warned that allowing ICE to use spyware “threatens Americans’ freedom of movement and freedom of speech.”…

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

Florida has been awarded $608.4 million, the full stockpile of funds available within a new FEMA program designed to compensate states for detaining undocumented immigrants. Florida was the only applicant for the grant program.

Florida Awarded $608 Million Grant for Migrant Jails Under FEMA Program

The state will also get $38 million from ICE for equipment and transportation involved in detaining non-citizens.

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