Ides of Summer
Week of July 10-16, 2026
Published in conjunction with The Nation magazine, TRACKING THE CRISIS is a weekly round-up from The Democracy Collaborative tracking the administrative, legislative, and other actions of the Trump Administration as well as the many forms of legal and movement response from across a broad range of social, political, and economic actors. TDC is providing this service for collective informational purposes, as a tool for understanding the times during a period of disorientingly rapid flux and change in the U.S. political economy. This round-up is produced by humans, not by Artificial Intelligence. TDC should not be understood as endorsing or otherwise any of the specific content of the information round-up.
TRUMP TRACKER: Administration actions
U.S.-Iran MoU collapses as hostilities resume across the Middle East; Trump re-instates Strait of Hormuz blockade. The tenuous ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran appeared to collapse this week as the U.S. resumed heavy bombing on Iran, prompting Iran to launch retaliatory strikes on U.S. military facilities across the Gulf region as renewed hostilities threaten to engulf the entire Middle East. Analysts say the brief pause in negotiations last week during Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s state funeral was seen by the United States as an opportunity to “take away Iran’s leverage” over the Strait of Hormuz.
Calls for “revenge” and the many “kill Trump” signs among the millions of Iranians and Shi’ite Muslims gathered for the six-day funeral appear to have struck a nerve with Trump personally, as he threatened on Saturday to “completely decimate and destroy” Iran if any assassination threats expressed against him were acted upon. On Saturday, Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement following his father’s funeral, saying “revenge is the will of our nation” and that Iran would act against “criminals whose names are known.” Iranian analysts, including University of Tehran professor Mohammed Marandi and U.S.-based analyst Trita Parsi, warned that the public mood within Iran has darkened as hope for a diplomatic solution fades and Iranians are “fed up” with what they perceive as persistent U.S. and Israeli treachery.
Qatari mediators continued to work towards de-escalation, holding phone calls with several Gulf states as Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi headed to Muscat to hold talks with Oman over arrangements for administration of the Strait of Hormuz as per their interpretation of Article 5 of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding. As the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Iran over the Strait of Hormuz and demanded that Iran issue a public statement declaring the Strait to be fully open, Araghchi warned that the U.S. has breached several of its commitments under the MoU. He posted on X that “Iran has kept its word, unlike the so-called U.S. Treasury Secretary” whom he accused of violating Article 9 of the MoU, saying that “there can only be mutual compliance” if peace talks were to go forward. By the end of the day on Saturday, the IRGC declared the Strait of Hormuz to be closed once again after it claimed it fired warning shots at a vessel attempting to illicitly traverse the Strait after turning off its transponder.
Early on Sunday, the U.S. launched a new wave of strikes on targets on several islands in the Strait. CENTCOM also claimed the military struck an Iranian submarine as well as a ship maintenance facility near the port city of Bandar Abbas. Explosions were heard in the interior of the country as Iranian state media claimed the U.S. military had targeted the country’s civilian electricity infrastructure, affecting more than 2,000 points on the grid and reducing its capacity by at least 4,200 megawatts. Trump boasted on NBC’s Meet the Press that the U.S. had “bombed the hell out of Iran,” and Iran launched retaliatory strikes at several targets in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, including U.S. military fuel depots, missile launch facilities, and an offshore oil platform. As the Gulf states condemned the renewed attacks on their soil, Iranian officials justified the strikes, saying that the origin of any attack on Iran will be considered a legitimate target.
Oil prices jumped nearly 4 percent on Sunday as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of “catastrophic consequences” to the global economy if strikes on Iran continue. Global leaders are facing up to the prospects of a worldwide energy supply shortage. Commercial oil inventories have dwindled to historically low levels, with the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve hitting its lowest capacity levels since 1983. Pope Leo XIV joined calls for de-escalation, urging “dialogue and diplomacy.”
Trump continued to claim that Iran has no sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, even within its territorial waters as he explained to reporters that the primary motivation over the renewed strikes was now to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for commerce. Analysts, however, note that given the depleted state of U.S. munitions, it would be “nearly impossible” for the U.S. military to guarantee safe passage for ships without a ground invasion, as all Iran would have to do is endure and outlast U.S. air strikes.
On Monday July 13 – which happened to be the 11th anniversary of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and several countries including the US – Trump announced that the U.S. would be re-imposing its naval blockade on Iranian ports. The U.S. launched a fresh wave of strikes on “dozens of targets” across southern Iran on Monday and Iran retaliated with attacks on U.S. airbases and Patriot missile systems in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan, condemning the “cooperation of certain countries” in U.S. aggressions.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei said Iran was “never the first” to violate its commitments, but warned that Iran would no longer abide by the MoU if the U.S. continued to violate the ceasefire and escalate military strikes. In Muscat, Foreign Minister Araghchi condemned the U.S. strikes and claimed that the U.S. had exerted “overt and covert pressure” on Oman to allow the U.S. military to operate on the southern route. Just after Araghchi departed the Omani capital, Iran launched missiles at U.S. fuel depots and airfields in Oman; Qatari and Omani officials protested, saying the tit-for-tat strikes were not helping their mediation efforts.
Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz hit a 2-month low Monday, sending oil prices soaring nearly 9 percent as Iran warned that the U.S. has “seriously jeopardized” the security of energy supplies worldwide. Only 6 vessels traversed the Strait on Monday as analysts noted that ships that had crossed the strait over the weekend elected to use the Iranian route over the U.S.-backed southern route by a factor of 5 to 1. Iranian media also reported that the Japanese government had reached a bilateral agreement with Iran to allow 7 of its ships trapped in the Persian Gulf to cross safely through the route authorized by Iran.
The conflict also expanded into Yemen on Monday as the Saudi-backed forces struck the Houthi-controlled airport in Sanaa; “small boats” were seen menacing vessels off the coast of Aden as the Houthis retaliated by launching attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport. Although Saudi Arabia did not officially claim responsibility for the attack on Sanaa, analysts say it may have quietly encouraged a “limited military escalation” aimed at warning Iran against “imposing a new reality” in Yemen through its Houthi allies. The internationally-recognized Yemeni government moved to close its airspace as the Houthis threatened to impose a closure of the Bab el-Mandab strait and cut off the Red Sea route for oil exports out of the Gulf.
Trump surprised world leaders and markets Monday, posting on Truth Social his intention for the U.S. to “become the guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz. This would include charging a 20% toll on commercial shipments as payment for “protection.” Economists estimated this could amount to as much as $30 million per supertanker that crossed the Strait. Araghchi responded to Trump’s announcement on X saying “POTUS is absolutely right…Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service,” implying that Trump had just legitimized Iran’s own claim on principle. Araghchi then reasserted Iran’s sovereign rights to the waterway, saying that “Iran has always been the guardian of the Strait and will remain so forever,” adding that “20% is of course too much” and Iran “will be fair.”
Explosions were reported overnight Monday in Bushehr province, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, and Kish Islands as U.S. strikes began targeting civilian infrastructure, including water treatment facilities. The Iranian Health Ministry reported a total of 24 people had been killed in the recent wave of attacks. As Iranian President Pezeshkian met with Russia’s energy minister on a plan to connect Russia and Iran’s electrical grids to build resiliency across the region, outgoing UK prime minister Keir Starmer, in one of his final acts as PM, announced his government would designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
By Tuesday, the MoU was “essentially dead” in the water as Trump formally notified Congress of the renewed military action against Iran, technically declaring it a “new war” in an effort to skirt the Congressional War Powers authority invoked by the resolutions passed by both the House and Senate two weeks ago. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer blasted the move, saying that Trump had once again plunged the U.S. into a war with no coherent strategy, while former Iran hawk Sen. Adam Schiff said that the recent events proved “why Congress must reassert its war powers authority.”
In Tehran, 180 members of Iran’s parliament issued a joint statement declaring the end of the MoU as analysts observed a power shift occurring within the Iranian government with sentiment tilting towards a more hardline stance rejecting continued negotiations with the United States. Some the “moderates” reportedly under fire for wanting to continue diplomacy made public statements reflecting this harder line, including Pezeshkian, who vowed to defend “every inch” of the country, and Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi who declared that Iran was no longer obligated to keep to its commitments to the MoU and Iran would retain full control over the Strait of Hormuz as long as war conditions continued.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a series of new sanctions against Iran as a fourth round of military strikes on Iran targeted the cities of Omidyeh, Bushehr, Bampur, and the port of Chabahar, considered a critical logistics hub for shipments to India and China. Iranian media also reported strikes on Qeshm, Sirik, and Bandar Abbas as Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei condemned the killing of three members of a local ranger’s family in Homozgan province.
Trump told Newsmax that U.S. strikes have “sent Iran back to the Stone Ages” and boasted that “Iran was the bully of the Middle East, but they weren’t going to bully me,” and said strikes on Iran will continue “until I say it’s enough.” Iran responded by destroying U.S. weapons storage and other military facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan; at the same time, it also addressed the Jordanian public directly in a message saying that they “hold no animosity” towards ordinary citizens of Jordan or their Gulf neighbors, and urged the Jordanian government and the people to demand the dismantling of U.S. bases.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi visited Trump at the White House Wednesday and Trump touted their “tremendous chemistry,” announcing plans for “a lot” of “massive” oil deals between the two countries once the U.S. had rid Iraq of the “burden” of Iran. The two leaders held a press conference during which Trump publicly backed off of his plans to impose a 20% toll on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, instead claiming that Gulf countries “promise” to make a “huge investment” in the U.S. economy in exchange for military protection. When asked by reporters about the recent escalations, Trump claimed Iran “shot first” and said it had made a “big mistake” in doing so. He also suggested that further sanctions on Iran and Hezbollah may be added to the Russia sanctions bill currently making its way through Congress. U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent announced additional sanctions on 50 individuals, entities, and vessels tied to Iranian shipping, as well as the freezing of $130 million in Iran-linked crypto wallets.
On Wednesday, airlines across the globe cancelled flights to the Middle East as the U.S. launched another wave of attacks on civilian infrastructure within Iran, forcing more than 200 patients to evacuate from a children’s cancer hospital in Ahvaz as well as strikes on water and food plants on Qeshm Island and Khuzestan province. The Iranian Health Ministry said Thursday morning that the death toll from U.S. strikes had climbed to 35, with more than 300 injured. Iran continued to hit U.S. military bases in Gulf countries in retaliation; the IRGC claimed that it had “destroyed” the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain as it said it was focusing its attacks on “offensive” U.S. military infrastructure and avoiding civilian targets.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz effectively went down to zero as Iran claimed the Strait was now completely impassable, though 11 vessels linked to Iranian trade were able to get out of the Gulf region before the military closed down the waterway. The IRGC issued a statement saying the Strait would remain closed “until the end of America’s evils,” and threatened to cut off all energy exports from the Middle East, saying energy from the Gulf “will either be for everyone or for no one.” In Yemen, the Houthis said Iran had instructed them to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if strikes continued.
Iran-aligned forces in Iraq also vowed to join the war if Iran continued to be attacked. U.S.-UN envoy Mike Waltz, who had been working with mediators towards de-escalation, accused China of not doing enough to stop the flow of goods to Iran and Yemen; Chinese ambassador Sun Lei responded by saying U.S. attacks have pushed the world to a “dangerous precipice” and that the highest priority is “for the U.S. to stop creating new conflicts and turmoil in the Middle East.”
Drop Site News reported Wednesday that Iran had sent a private message to JD Vance during initial talks in Switzerland, warning the vice president that Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were “abusing” their position within the negotiations for personal financial gain. The report claimed Iranians had calculated that $9 billion in profits had been made from market manipulation by “individuals close to Trump,” presenting written documentation to prove their claims, and formally requesting that $4.5 billion of those profits be transferred to Iran through intermediaries. While the Trump Administration has formally denied the claims, an Iranian official said the evidence will be made public and “the exchanged texts will ultimately become part of the historical record.”
Trump celebrated Iran’s release of a U.S. citizen who had been held in Iranian custody since December 2024, saying the repatriation was a “gesture of good will” from the Iranians who were “begging” to come back to the table. Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei said Tehran has no plans to engage in talks, as a senior Iranian cleric called on government leadership to remain on a war footing and walk away from negotiations. Lead negotiator Ghalibaf said Iran has “never welcomed war” but “must always be prepared for battle and stand firm to protect our national security and interests” while also using the tools of diplomacy to secure a favorable outcome for the nation.
The U.S. continued to expand its offensive into Iran’s interior on Thursday, striking targets in northern Iran as well as a civilian airport in the city of Semnan as Tehran also activated air defenses against incoming strikes. Gulf countries, caught in a situation of having to “choose sides” to preserve their own security, braced for retaliation, tightening security measures around critical oil and gas infrastructure as the IRGC warned attacks would “spread to new areas” with a “crushing blow” to regional infrastructure if the U.S. continued to attack.
Pakistan doubled down on its work to steer the conflict back toward diplomacy and Russia joined the urgent effort, speaking with Iranian officials to encourage them to keep diplomatic channels open and warning of “rather dire” and “negative” consequences for the global economy if an all-out war resumed. Energy experts warned that global commercial inventories are getting dangerously close to “tank bottom” and that further supply shortages could risk runaway inflation across the globe.
Former U.S. and military analysts appear to be reaching a consensus that U.S. strikes could be paving the way for a ground invasion of key Iranian islands in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the U.S. is following a playbook that has been developed over “decades” in anticipation of a war on Iran. Some of them, however, pointed out that U.S. munitions stocks are still dangerously low, warning that the U.S. was being drawn into an escalation trap and will not win a war of attrition against Iran, who is now fighting an existential war and could “take a lot more pain” in its bid to outlast the U.S.’s dwindling capability to continue its offensive.Global economy approaches turning point: bond markets flash danger signals as energy, dollar shocks drive up long-term interest rates, increasing debt stress worldwide. This week, trends in the U.S. bond market are presenting warning signs for the global economy as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is beginning to trigger a “death spiral” among dollar-pegged currencies around the world, hitting oil-importing countries in Asia especially hard in ways that threaten to blow back on the U.S. economy. Crisis signals from multiple sectors suggest the brewing of a “perfect storm” of persistent inflation, expanding government deficits, and capital flight from a severely over-leveraged stock market with no safe havens left for capital investment.
Amid a months-long selloff of U.S. Treasuries among central banks trying to reduce their economic dependence on the U.S., Treasury Secretary Bessent has implemented a hardline strong-dollar policy in an attempt to maintain dollar dominance. This is causing a negative feedback loop: countries are shedding dollar reserves, while Bessent’s attempts at fiscal discipline to retain the dollar’s value are leading to a global dollar supply shock right at the time when rising oil prices are sending central banks of oil-dependent countries into a scramble to obtain increasing amounts of dollars at increasingly higher rates. This is forcing them to fund their oil needs at the expense of their own domestic economies and triggering crises in domestic currencies.
Asian currencies have become the iconic “canaries in the coal mine” as their mostly oil import-dependent economies have been hit the hardest by this phenomenon. In March, Turkiye sold off nearly all of its Treasury holdings in an emergency move to obtain liquidity to buy oil and support its local currency reserves. This week, the Indian rupee fell to unprecedented lows against the U.S. dollar as the Reserve Bank of India has gotten caught in the liquidity trap, prompting unusual interventions such as imposing curbs on consumer purchases of gold and silver and encouraging private banks to offer higher and higher incentives to attract dollar-denominated foreign capital, reducing its ability to stabilize conditions over the long term as it extends high borrowing commitments (and therefore, bank exposures to future volatility) farther into the future.
Yields on the Japanese yen in recent weeks have hit levels not seen since the “lost decade” of the 1990s, driving down the currency’s value even after a record $70 billion intervention from the Bank of Japan to repatriate capital and defend the currency. This has raised import costs for raw materials for Japan’s manufacturing sector, stressing Japan’s domestic economy to its limits as consumers’ purchasing power falls and corporate bankruptcies rise. This has led to layoffs and further weakening demand for consumer goods. In response, the Bank of Japan has resorted to selling assets to maintain enough liquidity to support the currency, even dipping into pension funds to invest more into domestic assets. However, this has had little effect on crashing currency values.
Wall Street is increasingly worried that this collapse in the yen carry trade could trigger “widespread damage” to U.S. stock markets. For decades, Japan has been the biggest holder of U.S. Treasuries, quietly supporting the asset price bubbles that have occurred in the U.S. financial system since the economy around asset-price financialization. Foreign U.S. dollar reserves have also underwritten ballooning U.S. government deficits, which now stands at over $36 trillion and counting as war costs add more to government spending. The Bank of Japan’s move to repatriate Japanese capital from the U.S. economy, along with similar moves from other countries that have dumped dollar holdings for gold in the quest for currency stability, has effectively triggered capital flight from U.S. Treasuries. This is occurring while the stability of the U.S. economy – private stocks as well as public bonds – has become increasingly dependent on leveraged debt.
Long-term 30-year US Treasury bond yields passed the threshold of 5% last week, making the cost of borrowing more and more prohibitive not only for sovereign wealth funds seeking dollars to buy oil, but also for domestic corporations. At a time when the AI industry – which now supports 75% of U.S. GDP growth – is relying more and more on back-leveraged debt from private credit markets to support the increasing costs of the AI data center buildout, rising interest rates on long-term US Treasuries are extending high interest rates on AI debt far into the future, making the prospect of an eventual return on AI investment – now at $3 trillion and rising – less plausible and a sudden crash in AI stock valuations more likely.
On the other end of the top-heavy, K-shaped economy, higher borrowing costs are putting increasing pressure on small businesses, workers, and everyday consumers as higher interest rates on mortgages and personal credit card debt deepen the affordability crisis amid a struggling job market. It is also contributing to demand destruction and slowing the circulation of money within the economic system itself.
This week, new Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a marked decline in the inflation rate from 4.2% to just 3.5%, which many financial analysts attributed to falling oil prices during the Iran ceasefire; other analysts, however, point out that additional indicators in the market, such as the shrinking labor market and retail-sector data on weak consumer spending, suggest that demand destruction is also a major driver in the CPI’s decline, which points to what Michael Hudson warns could be the beginning of a deflationary spiral characteristic of the onset of a major recession, if not a global depression.Another ICE killing heightens scrutiny of agency’s street-level detention tactics. ICE agents shot and killed a man during enforcement operations in Biddeford, Maine Monday morning. The victim, 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, was a Colombian immigrant and father to a three-year-old daughter, who was reported by family to have been in the country on a work authorization.
Agents once again justified the murder by claiming that Guerrero “threatened officers’ safety” with his vehicle. The killing shocked the small town of 22,000, as Guerrero’s partner was heard crying out “mi amor, mi amor, mi amor,” as she held his lifeless body in the street just blocks from their home.
The shooting comes just a week after the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, and six months after CBP agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. This week, the DOJ finally released key video and eyewitness evidence in the shootings of both Renee Good and Alex Pretti to Minnesota investigators, who had sued the agency over having been denied the ability to conduct an independent investigation into the murders that shocked the nation in January.
Outrage over Guerrero’s killing, the second in as many weeks and at least the 10th person to be fatally shot in their vehicle by ICE since the implementation of Trump’s mass deportation program, prompted the agency to announce a pause on vehicle stops performed by ICE until further notice. This announcement apparently angered President Trump, as he promptly ordered the pause overturned and railed against it on Truth Social, saying: “The Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch.”
MOVEMENT TRACKER
Over 100 House Democrats back bill to end aid to Israel in watershed vote; Senate votes down NDAA over Iran war, Israel military merger concerns. Signaling a major shift in voter sentiment and political will, nearly half of House Democrats voted for an amendment to a State Department spending bill that would have eliminated $3.3 billion dollars in military funding for Israel. In the final tally, 103 Democrats voted to terminate U.S. assistance to Israel, while 98 voted to continue it, with another 10 voting “present.”
While the bill, introduced by Republican Thomas Massie, ultimately failed 314-104 due to continued Republican party-line support for Israel, the number of congresspeople voting to end assistance was nearly triple that of a similar bill introduced two years ago, signaling a momentous shift in Congressional support for Israel. This comes amid a “groundswell” of opposition among the Democratic party’s rank and file to Israeli’s genocide in Gaza and invasion of Lebanon, as criticism of Israel has emerged as a decisive factor in the progressive movement’s recent streak of primary victories.
“The American people are crying out for an end to U.S. tax dollars subsidizing Israel’s military,” wrote Rep. Greg Casar in a letter encouraging all 98 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to vote in favor of the bill. The vote also represented the growing schism between Democratic party leadership and its progressive wing over Israel policy; Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and No. 3 Democrat Rep. Pete Aguilar both voted against the bill, while minority whip Katherine Clark voted in favor “not because I agree with the entirety of the amendment, or the G.O.P.’s cynical motivations for its consideration, but because I believe we must change course.” In an unexpected move, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also voted in favor, calling the amendment an “unfortunate choice” but saying she would support it “for the message it sends.”
In the Senate, Democrats drove a 50-46 vote to successfully block a motion to advance the $1.15 trillion National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2027, marking a rare turnabout for the annual appropriations measure that generally enjoys bipartisan support. Senior lawmakers cited a desire to end Trump’s ongoing war of choice against Iran as well as a highly controversial provision in the bill that would have authorized an unprecedented military integration between the U.S. and Israel.
In a comment to Common Dreams, Sen. Ron Wyden said he “cannot support new authorities included in the bill, which seek to deepen and accelerate cooperation with Israeli contractors…surveillance technologies developed by Israeli companies have repeatedly been used by repressive regimes, contributed to human rights violations in Gaza, and have been used against Americans.” Sen. Bernie Sanders commented on social media, “It’s time to invest in the American people, not endless war.”
Grassroots antiwar groups celebrated Tuesday’s vote as Medea Benjamin of CodePink credited social movements for the historic vote, saying: “For once, the Senate refused to fast-track a $1.15 trillion Pentagon budget...after sustained grassroots pressure, people power made this vote possible. Now let’s make sure senators hold the line.”National voting rights protest, organized by a civil rights coalition including MLK’s family, announced for August 28. A coalition of civil rights groups, led by Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network and joined by Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, and over a dozen organizations, have announced the upcoming “March on Washington 2026: Defend the Vote,” set to take place on August 28. The march will mark the 63rd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which was delivered during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
In its press release announcing the event, the National Action Network stated: “The 2026 March on Washington comes at a moment of profound urgency, following the United States Supreme Court's decision to gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a ruling Rev. Sharpton has called ‘a bullet in the heart of the voting rights movement’.” Martin Luther King III said in a statement: “Defending the vote means defending the foundation of our democracy…Sixty-three years after my father stood at the Lincoln Memorial, we are called to march again, not only in remembrance, but in action.”
This planned protest comes in the wake of a series of Supreme Court rulings weakening the Voting Rights Act, and a number of moves by Trump and Republicans to purge voter rolls, restrict mail-in voting, and impose election monitoring. Several states have responded to these moves by passing their own voting rights acts, and the ACLU and Massachusetts League of Women Voters are filing suit against the Trump administration to block Trump’s March 31st executive order titled “Ensuring Citizen Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.”Nationwide protest against data centers planned for July 18 as locally-based resistance converges into national movement.Over 100 cities across the US are reported to be participating in a planned July 18th national protest against data center expansion. The protest is organized by conservative advocacy group Humans First, chaired by former Tea Party leaderAmy Kremer.
The group’s website states that “we are protesting to call on local, state, and federal politicians to:” “protect our hometowns, our wallets, and our way of life,” “end the corporate welfare, sweetheart deals, and taxpayer bailouts,” and “take federal action to ensure no AI that threatens our security and liberty is built.”
Public sentiment against data centers is an increasingly common and bipartisan issue nationwide and globally, as critics cite environmental and noise pollution, energyuse, and water use as primary concerns. Local protests have proliferated in recent months, including a group in Louisville, Kentuck that drew attention when they disrupted Mayor Craig Greenberg’s weekly news conference on Tuesday. Dozens also gathered in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday in protest, calling for a moratorium on further data center construction until stronger regulations are in place; Topeka, Kansas also saw anti-data center protests at its capitol building this week.
States and municipalities have begun to respond to this pressure from the public with increased regulation, despite pressures from the Trump Administration to the contrary. New York became the first state to issue a statewide moratorium on hyperscale data center construction this week, provoking ire from the President. Several cities and counties in Maryland, Massachusetts, Tennessee, California and Illinois have issued new moratoriums or tabled proposed centers this week as well. Data centers have become a focal issue in the midterm elections, as some politicians have been quicker than others to match popular sentiment.National backlash to AI-powered surveillance grows as Americans turn to direct action against Flock camera networks.Popular pushback against Flock surveillance cameras is growing nationwide, as many decry them as an easily-abusedviolation of privacy and police departments find them to be an increasinglyflawed tool. Many Americans have turned to direct action to protest this invasion by the surveillance state into their daily lives and dozens of incidents of vandalism of Flock cameras have taken place across the country in recent months.
In one recent high-profile case, an Air Force engineer in Suffolk, Virginia was accused of cutting down 13 Flock cameras. He has pleaded not guilty to 13 felony counts of destruction of property, six counts of petit larceny, and six counts of possession of burglary tools, reportedly arguing that the cameras are “unconstitutional and a violation of his and others' Fourth Amendment rights.” Unknown persons in Auburn, California recently stole three Flock cameras and dumped them in a canal; Houston, Ashland, and Alexandria have all seen strings of vandalisms. Add to this Waterford, Milwaukee, Asheville, Oakland, Troy, Kent County, Goshen, Kalamazoo County, Rio Rancho, Chesterfield County, Barrow County and destroying Flock cameras is beginning to look like a national trend.
A slew of recent cases have shown police officerscriminally misusing access to Flock camera databases, leading to firings and criminalcharges. Flock’s high error rates for reporting stolen vehicles came into national focus this week when an automotive journalist in Minnesota was tracked for days and ultimately swarmed by police and detained while test-driving a vehicle Flock falsely reported as stolen. The LAPD opted this week to pause its contract with Flock, citing “serious concerns around civil liberties and civil rights issues, particularly around privacy and the data that is being collected from these cameras.” They weren’t the first to do so; 39 municipal Flock contracts were reportedly canceled in the first five months of 2026. In the last week alone, the cities of Westland, Kaukauna, Newport, Fort Wayne, Nashville, Windsor, and Killingworth all paused, suspended, or canceled Flock contracts or negotiations due to privacy concerns.
