Oversight
Week of February 6-12, 2026
Welcome to TRACKING THE CRISIS, 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
Trump’s ‘weaponized’ Justice Department under fire as lawmakers grill Pam Bondi in contentious hearing over Epstein files; grand jury refuses to indict Democratic Senators for video message to military. The Department of Justice in Trump’s second term has been criticized by legal and governance experts for its overt politicization, discarding post-Watergate norms and procedural guardrails designed to maintain a ‘firewall’ between the agency and the White House through successive administrations. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have been accused of working to turn the DOJ’s arsenal against Trump’s enemies, literally creating a “Weaponization Working Group” within the Department via executive order last May, which Bondi dedicated to “rooting out abuses of power.” The group’s director, Ed Martin, was ousted from leadership two weeks ago as the group has come under intense pressure to ‘deliver results’ on Trump’s priorities after a number of setbacks. The DOJ has also come under scrutiny for pursuing political opponents with investigations, including into the widow of slain Minneapolis resident Renee Good, while avoiding investigations into the ICE agents who murdered Good and Alex Pretti, and has even been accused of doing favors for Trump allies and the MAGA cause. This week, Bondi’s former chief of staff was found to be trying to recruit pro-Trump lawyers to become federal prosecutors, a position in which partisanship is forbidden by law. As the Trump Administration faced a host of setbacks from federal judges, including his own appointees, on cases involving ICE, Trump’s DOJ asked federal prosecutors to begin compiling “egregious examples” of judges impeding its agenda so they may be referred to Congress for impeachment. Eight more prosecutors quit the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney’s office this week, one of whom complained to a judge, saying “this job sucks” before vacating her position.
Bondi’s controversial efforts to deploy the DOJ’s power in the service of attacking Trump’s enemies and exonerating his friends faced a reckoning this week as the Epstein scandal finally caught up with the Trump Administration, and a grand jury refused to indict six Democratic Senators on charges of seditious conspiracy over a 90-second video message to military servicemembers last November. In the video, Senators Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, along with House Democrats Jason Crow, Chrissy Houlahan, Chris DeLuzio, and Maggie Goodlander, all military or intelligence veterans, reminded troops of their right and duty to disobey illegal orders; a speech act that an enraged Trump characterized as “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” on social media as he suggested the six Democrats should be punished by death. On Tuesday, February 10, two prosecutors under U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (one of whom had retired from law in 2023 to become a dance photographer) presented the Justice Department’s case against the so-called “Seditious Six” to a grand jury, who declined to grant an indictment. The decision is highly unusual for grand juries, who almost always tend to side with prosecutors due to the nature of the process; but it is emerging as a pattern in the Trump DOJ’s attempts at prosecution of political enemies, where grand juries and courts have ruled against or dismissed similar efforts to prosecute James Comey, Letitia James, ICE protestor Sidney Reid, and a number of D.C. residents charged with felonies by Jeanine Pirro last year, including viral resistance icon ‘Sandwich Guy’ Sean Dunn. In a press conference Wednesday, Slotkin thanked the “group of anonymous Americans who upheld the rule of law,” applauding the “bravery of common citizens,” like the protestors in Minneapolis, for “upholding our country and its values.” Kelly also lauded the decision, but warned that the attempt to jail two sitting U.S. Senators for Constitutionally protected speech signified a dangerous advance of the Trump Administration’s ‘authoritarian playbook’. On Thursday, a judge blocked Pete Hegseth’s efforts at a military censure of Kelly (a retired Navy pilot), and said that Hegseth “should reflect and be grateful” to veterans like Kelly, suggesting he would then “more fully appreciate why the Founding Fathers made free speech the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights.” Some Republicans, including Sens. Josh Hawley, Chuck Grassley, and Lisa Murkowski, rebuked Trump for pursuing a “petty and vindictive path” against the opposing party.
On Wednesday, Bondi faced off with the House Judiciary Committee at a highly contentious hearing on Wednesday, February 11, regarding the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files, striking a combative tone as she exchanged barbs with members of Congress from both parties. She responded to questions with deflections, gaslighting, and personal attacks on Democrats which at times devolved into shouting matches as lawmakers pressed her on the Justice Department’s handling, delayed release and ‘inappropriate’ redactions of the Epstein files archive, only about half of which has been released thus far. She refused to apologize to or even look at the group of Epstein survivors that had gathered in the chamber to witness the hearing, many of whose names, faces and explicit photographs were ‘accidentally’ left exposed and unredacted in the released files while the names of the rich and prominent men who abused them were heavily redacted. Lawmakers who gained access to the unredacted files and viewed them at the Justice Department on Monday slammed Bondi with one revelation after another that the DOJ had failed to act appropriately on clearly actionable evidence, blowing the lid off of the Justice Department’s official internal review concluding that Epstein had abused girls but had not trafficked them to powerful men. Republican as well as Democrat lawmakers accused Bondi of concealing the names of Epstein’s associates, demanding to know why none of the co-conspirators and co-perpetrators in Epstein’s pedophile sex ring – not Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson, incriminated in the files early on and already disgraced in the UK as the mounting scandal threatens to topple Keir Starmer from power, nor any other of the wealthy and prominent people named in the files, including Elon Musk, Steve Bannon, Goldman Sachs general counsel Kathy Ruemmler, Trump-connected crypto entrepreneur Michael Saylor, several prominent political and financial figures in Europe, and high-ranking officials in the Trump Administration – have been held accountable or even contacted by the DOJ regarding their ties. On Tuesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin said Trump’s name “came up more than a million times” in his search of the unredacted documents, which belied Trump’s claim of kicking Epstein out of Mar-A-Lago.
Bondi gave what was described as ‘an eye-watering performance’ as the five-hour hearing wore on and she continued to deflect the committee’s pointed questions, heaping praise on Donald Trump and the stock market while lobbing insults at Democrats. She called Raskin a “washed-up, loser lawyer” after he accused the DOJ of a “massive Epstein coverup” and decried Bondi for turning the DOJ into an “instrument of revenge”; and Rep. Becca Balint, who is Jewish and lost her grandfather in the Holocaust, stormed out of the chamber after Bondi accused her of antisemitism. Other Democrats took the opportunity to expand their critique of Bondi’s DOJ, bringing up her hiring of a former January 6 rioter who had threatened to kill police, the secret ‘enemies list’ she ordered the DOJ to compile as a provision of NSPM-7, and gutting the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, as Rep. Joe Neguse said “what is happening at the Department of Justice is a disgrace.” The controversy continued on Wednesday night after a Reuters photographer taking close-up shots of Bondi during the hearing discovered that he had captured photos of Bondi holding a document listing Rep. Jayapal’s search history from the Epstein files archive. Jayapal blasted Bondi for bringing a “burn book” to a Congressional hearing and called for an investigation into the DOJ’s “improper” surveillance of lawmakers who reviewed the Epstein files, as Raskin condemned the DOJ for “spying” on Democrats as an “outrageous abuse of power.” Republican Rep. Nancy Mace confirmed Thursday that the DOJ is tracking and logging “all Epstein documents that members of Congress view, open and review,” sparking bipartisan outrage among all members of Congress. Even Speaker Johnson was forced to condemn the surveillance as “inappropriate,” warning Bondi that he “can’t allow” her to spy on members of Congress. Bondi’s performance at the hearing was widely considered a disaster for the Trump Administration as MAGA influencers turned on her and conservatives joined the call for Bondi to resign as Attorney General. At the end of the day, according to former RNC chair Michael Steele, it was Bondi’s refusal to acknowledge or even look at the Epstein survivors, as captured in a telling photo that went viral on Thursday, that suggested Bondi had crossed a line in the eyes of his constituents, a serious misstep for Trump as public trust in the justice system collapses.
Shutdown over DHS funding nearly certain as more reports emerge over conditions in ICE detention. Although the budget deadline for full-year funding for the Department of Homeland Security technically expires on Friday, February 13, lawmakers left Washington for a 10-day recess on Thursday night, essentially guaranteeing a partial shutdown for DHS after the Senate failed to pass the funding bill amid a debate on ‘guardrails’ for ICE and CBP operations. Only one Democrat, John Fetterman, crossed over to vote for the bill to avert a shutdown, while others among the eight Democrats who voted to concede ACA subsidies to end last year’s shutdown insisted this time that they would not vote for continued DHS funding without significant Republican concessions. Republicans attempted to pass another two-week stopgap bill to fund the agency through negotiations, which was also rejected by the Democratic contingent. Majority Leader John Thune said that negotiations were largely ‘between Democrats and the White House’ and were ongoing although they are “not close” to an agreement; although Tom Homan’s announcement Thursday morning ending Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis was largely seen as an olive branch, ‘sticking points’ remain over Democrat demands such as requiring judicial warrants for raids and prohibiting ICE agents’ use of masks. Sen. Chuck Schumer reiterated the demands on the Senate floor, saying “we need legislation to truly halt ICE’s abuses,” and was reinforced by Sen. Chris Murphy, who said “We have a constitutional obligation to only fund a Department of Homeland Security that is obeying the law, and this Department of Homeland Security is not obeying the law.” Speaker Mike Johnson told House members they would not be allowed to travel with official funding during the shutdown, punishing around two dozen Democrats who planned to travel to the Munich Security Conference this weekend. Although ICE is still flush with cash from last year’s appropriations and is unlikely to halt operations, Kristi Noem warned that airport service may slow down as TSA, FEMA and Coast Guard activities are also affected by the shutdown. Noem slammed Democrats for endangering disaster recovery operations, although FEMA whistleblowers said last week that Noem has dangerously gutted the agency and survivors are calling for Noem to resign, reporting that disaster aid has slowed to a ‘trickle’ due to Noem’s policy of having to personally approve every agency expense over $100,000.
The ten demands on which Senate Democrats are holding firm address some of the worst abuses seen during ICE’s occupation of Minneapolis, but hardly touches upon the welfare of migrants and U.S. citizens in ICE detention, which has raised alarms due to squalid conditions and reported abuses. The Democratic demands have included granting access to legal counsel, as many lawyers, including at Alligator Alcatraz, still report major setbacks and difficulties in contacting their clients, many of whom have no criminal record and have legal status, such as Irish migrant Seamus Culleton, who has been held in Texas for the last five months despite having lived in the U.S. for 20 years, is married to a U.S. citizen and had a valid green card. Reports of ‘dire conditions’ from detainees still inside are a growing source of concern as ICE aims to expand its network of detention centers across the country. An article from Just Security this week provides a backgrounder on the Trump Administration’s re-interpretation of immigration law on which the massive expansion of ICE detention camps is based, although hundreds of judges and legal experts have determined the expanded policy to be unlawful. Calls are growing louder from lawmakers and immigration advocates to close the ICE family detention facility at Dilley, Texas, where intakes for children and families have tripled in recent months (around 750 families are believed to be currently held there), and where at least two cases of measles were identified last week. ProPublica this week released letters and pictures from children as young as five being held at the facility, describing the “fear,” “sadness” and “depression” among the detainees and longing for school and normal life. Some of the letters were read out loud to ICE chief Todd Lyons at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday. Just Security provides a montage of testimonies that describe the harrowing journey of detainees rushed along the “Minnesota-to-Texas-pipeline,” including U.S. citizens detained at protests, who end up in the Camp East Montana detention facility at Fort Bliss, just outside of El Paso. There, detainees describe being held in overcrowded cells with no privacy, toilets and showers overflowing with contaminated water, and inadequate food, as well as several accounts of torture and sexual abuse. Thirty-five Democratic state legislators demanded an investigation into torture and human rights abuses at the facility, where three detainees have died under suspicious circumstances in the last two months. Politico this week reviewed hundreds of cases revealing a ‘pattern of noncompliance’ as ICE continues to defy court orders regarding the rights of detainees to medical care, access to legal counsel, and other constitutional protections; but despite the fact that more than 350 judges, including Trump appointees, have ruled repeatedly that rights have been violated, on February 6, a divided vote among a panel of judges at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Trump Administration’s policy of ‘mandatory detention’ without the opportunity for bond or redress.
Border czar announces Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota is over; drawdown of ICE forces underway. Border czar Tom Homan announced on Thursday, February 12, that Operation Metro Surge, the controversial ICE operation which has besieged Minnesota and the Twin Cities for over two months, is coming to an end. National Guard troops were also quietly withdrawn from Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland this week amid legal setbacks to Trump’s attempt to ‘federalize’ urban law enforcement. Homan said that a “significant drawdown” of ICE agents is “already underway this week” and “will continue into next week” and called the operation a success, having detained over 4,000 migrants and “leaving Minneapolis safer” by way of making Minnesota “less of a sanctuary state for criminals.” After ten weeks of occupation, however, the majority of Minnesota residents have been feeling less safe as the operation turned quiet neighborhoods into conflict zones, shattered the local economy, eroded public trust in the federal government, and profoundly changed life in the Twin Cities. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison pointed out at a contentious Senate Homeland Security Committee meeting on Thursday that “two out of the three homicides in Minneapolis in 2026 have come at the hands of federal agents.” Speaking at a press conference shortly after the announcement, Governor Tim Walz said that ICE is leaving behind “deep damage” and “generational trauma” in his state as a result of the operation. Backing a $10 million aid package to support economic recovery, especially for immigrant-owned businesses in the state, Walz demanded that the federal government “pay for what they broke” in Minnesota, but also admitted he was not about to “hold [his] breath for the federal government to do the right thing.” Rep. Ilhan Omar said on social media that “ending this operation is not enough. We need justice and accountability… independent investigations into the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, economic restitution for businesses impacted, abolishing ICE, and the impeachment of Kristi Noem.” Residents remained skeptical and on guard as dozens of ICE raids continued Thursday and into Friday throughout the Minneapolis area as ICE was seen driving recklessly throughout the city, running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road, endangering residents and causing a multi-car crash in St. Paul.
Journalists and officials attempted to begin tallying the damage done to the Twin Cities this week as local agencies report profound changes to daily life and community services that have resulted from the operation. Businesses are recalling the height of the COVID crisis as they attempt to stay afloat after the operation cost the local economy an estimated $100 million in Minneapolis alone. Thousands of families are still living as if underground, having been afraid to leave home in weeks as neighbors and community activists feed and care for them in secrecy. Amna Akbar, a resident of south Minneapolis, describes the wartime-like daily atmosphere of defensive paranoia, adaptation, and camaraderie that now pervades a city dotted with makeshift barricaded checkpoints. Healthcare providers in Minnesota warn of the lasting effects to public health as terrified immigrants avoid seeking essential medical care for fear of ending up like Aliya Rahman as ICE agents continue to patrol entrances to hospitals and clinics, demanding proof of citizenship from patients. A PBS Newshour interview details the impacts of the operation on Minneapolis residents’ mental health, not only of immigrants but also U.S. citizen residents and legal observers, several of whom were specifically targeted and taken by ICE just days before Homan’s announcement. As teachers and parents stand guard in shifts over pick-ups and drop-offs, school districts fear losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding as an estimated 20% of Minneapolis public school students have stopped attending or have moved to virtual learning, affecting up to half of students at some schools; teachers are still struggling to account for kids who simply vanished, like fifth-grader Elizabeth Caisaguano, who was spotted at the Dilley, Texas ICE detention camp with her mother a month after her abduction. Teenagers described having to grow up in a hurry as they stepped up to take on responsibilities for their family and community. Home from detention, Liam Ramos’s father Adrian spoke out this week to say Liam continues to suffer from his ordeal and is “not the same.” Experts in childhood adversity say the trauma of the last several weeks may leave long-lasting impacts on children’s physical and mental health, in Minneapolis and at every school where ICE has encroached. WIRED editor Brian Barrett, who has closely tracked the buildout of ICE’s surveillance and detention capacity, warned that Minneapolis “is not an anomaly, it’s a blueprint. Communities deserve to know that they might be next.”
BLS jobs report touted by Trump for beating expectations at 130,000 jobs added, with caveat of downward revisions for 2025; Republicans break ranks to repeal Canada tariffs in rebuke to Trump’s trade policy. After a slight delay due to the partial government shutdown earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its jobs report for the month of January, surprising even Trump Administration officials like Peter Navarro, who had hit the media circuit the day before with a pre-prepared narrative spinning low numbers as an outcome of deportations and advising the public to “revise their expectations” for growth given the dismal figures released last week from the private sector. But on Wednesday, February 11, non-farm payrolls increased by 130,000 in January per the BLS, nearly double the consensus expectation of around 55-70,000 for the month, while unemployment ticked down slightly to 4.3%. Trump celebrated the higher numbers as the White House put out a press release touting the “blockbuster” report as proof that “President Trump’s economic agenda continues to pay off.” Though Trump’s claim to success in the labor market prompted a renewed call to Fed chair Jerome Powell to lower the cost of borrowing, Powell’s defenders argued that the strong jobs numbers actually vindicated Powell’s position in keeping interest rates steady for the time being.
Many economists looking under the hood, however, point to the warning signs still simmering behind the headline numbers. In the January report, the BLS also included its annual ‘benchmark’ revisions for 2025; total seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls had a remarkable downward correction, showing just 181,000 jobs were actually added for the whole of 2025 instead of the 584,000 originally reported. BLS posted a total downward revision of a staggering 911,000 jobs between April 2024 and December 2025, meaning expected jobs that were reported to BLS but never actually materialized. The revised numbers indicate that the economy added only 15,000 jobs per month on average since Trump took office, showing that the labor market essentially froze in 2025, posting the worst job growth outside of a recession since 2003. Trump’s instinct to blame Biden for the sluggish numbers belies the fact that the economy added a net 1.46 million jobs in 2024, averaging around 150,000 jobs per month, beating Trump’s first year in office by an order of magnitude as polls show more Americans are looking back fondly on the preceding years than looking forward to what Trump has in store. Moody’s economist Mark Zandi, among others, pointed out that nearly all the job gains in January were primarily concentrated in the healthcare sector (mainly home health care aides for the elderly, a particularly immigrant-heavy sector), with social assistance and construction coming in a relatively distant second and third. Zandi avers that without healthcare, job growth would have been negative for the month.
The extraordinarily weak job market means that more people than ever are ‘job-hugging,’ holding on to current jobs out of fear rather than seeking upward income mobility by upgrading to better jobs. Some economists point out that the stable unemployment rate masks the fact that more people than ever are relying on side gigs and part-time work to make ends meet, with 410,000 more people now working involuntary part-time than had been at this time last year. Economists are now seeing the ‘K’ shaped economy, which for the past few years has been making the poor poorer and rich richer, looking more like an ‘E’ shaped economy as labor stagnation and higher prices are beginning to drag down the middle class and slow consumption of higher-end goods. Fortune reports that the 45-year decline in the share of GDP going to working people’s wages and benefits has cost the average working- to middle-class American household nearly $12,000 per year, or 20% over the annual median income. Premium brands are shifting focus away from middle-income consumers, doubling down on ad spending and price hikes to entice wealthier buyers as a way to offset tariff pressures, which combined with a weakening dollar may lead to an uptick in inflation. Caught between higher costs and weakened consumer spending are small businesses, the sector hurting the most in Trump’s economy, according to a new report called ‘Pain Street’ released by Sen. Ed Markey’s office this week.
With many of their constituents’ livelihoods at stake and a razor-thin majority in the House, some Republicans have begun to quietly rebel against Trump’s trade agenda. On Tuesday, February 10, three Republicans – Reps. Thomas Massie, Don Bacon, and Kevin Kiley – broke party ranks and sank a procedural vote posed by Speaker Johnson, which contained language renewing a House ban on voting over Trump’s tariffs through July. Johnson’s party-line majority in the chamber is down to only one vote, due to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s departure and Doug LaMalfa’s death late last year; earlier this week, Politico saw Johnson ‘begging’ 72-year-old FL Rep. Neal Dunn not to retire, as he had planned to announce next week, at a ‘time certain’ before the midterms. The next day, six Republicans broke with the party line to vote 219-210 with Democrats on a resolution to rescind the declaration of ‘national emergency’ Trump used to unilaterally enact tariffs on Canada. While it was simply a resolution and Trump would still have veto power to block any formal action, the vote was still “a largely symbolic but politically consequential rebuke” to Trump and his unilateral trade war that Johnson had fought to block even the possibility of registering for nearly a year, and a reassertion of Congressional authority over trade policy. Trump threatened Republicans on social media before the vote, warning that “Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!” That six Republicans crossed the line anyway undercuts Trump’s year-long pressure campaign against Canada and speaks to the growing disillusionment within the party – and parts of the MAGA base at large – with Trump’s approach to economic policy.
Trump finalizes EPA repeal of 2009 finding on greenhouse gases, undermining basis for federal climate change mitigation programs. On Thursday, February 12, two weeks after Greenland experienced its hottest January on record, affecting multiple economic sectors from tourism to mining, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule revoking the 2009 government declaration, known colloquially as the “Endangerment Finding,” that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases posed a danger to public health and welfare through their causative effect on climate change. The Obama-era acknowledgment of scientific consensus on greenhouse gases and climate change has been the legal cornerstone for almost all U.S. climate regulations implemented over the last 17 years under the Clean Air Act that set standards for vehicles, power plants, and other sources of air pollution that exacerbate global warming. The repeal will set in motion a sweeping rollback of nearly all progress on climate change regulation achieved by the United States over the last two decades, repeals emission standards for all vehicles made after 2012, and deals a huge blow to climate efforts globally as the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter signals an abandonment of efforts toward a clean energy transition back to heavy reliance on fossil fuel energy and its resultant atmospheric pollution. Trump, who has long believed climate change to be a “con job,” was joined by EPA head Lee Zeldin in celebrating the “largest single deregulatory action in U.S. history” as Zeldin paid ‘good riddance’ to climate standards he has called “the Holy Grail of federal regulatory overreach.”
On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order directing the military to begin purchasing electricity from coal-fired power plants and announced that the Energy Department will tap a $625 million fund for upgrades to coal-fired power plants nearing retirement, providing federal subsidies as a boon for the dying industry but also forcing power companies to keep outdated equipment in operation, raising costs for customers. Peabody Energy executive Jim Grech presented Trump with the first and only “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal” award at a White House ceremony following the signing of the executive order. With the repeal, Trump delivers on a key campaign promise made to fossil fuel executives, from whom he solicited over $1 billion for his 2024 presidential run. The repeal of the Endangerment Finding, which the EPA called a “flawed legal theory” in its press release Thursday, does not change the scientific fact that greenhouse gases are a key driver of climate change and its observable effects on extreme weather and the increasing frequency, intensity, impact and cost of national disasters, which NOAA was ordered to stop tracking in 2025. Climate leaders gathered at the EPA building on Wednesday to condemn the repeal, vowing to fight the Trump Administration’s action in the courts. Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse called the repeal “old-fashioned, dirty political corruption,” adding that the EPA in Trump’s second term has become “so infiltrated by the corrupt fossil fuel industry that it has turned an agency of government into the weapon of the fossil fuel polluters.”
Tracking the Money: Trump’s top anti-trust prosecutor ousted after feuding with Pam Bondi; A confederacy of “stupid, amoral grifters.” The Justice Department’s top anti-trust prosecutor, MAGA populist fan favorite Gail Slater, resigned from her post on Thursday, February 12 after months of “mounting tensions” between her and Pam Bondi over the handling of corporate mergers. Sources told CBS News and The Guardian that the Justice Department had given Slater the choice to resign or be fired ahead of the highly anticipated Ticketmaster/Live Nation antitrust hearings, which are set to begin in March. Live Nation shares jumped over 5% on the news of Slater’s departure, as the DOJ is now expected to settle with the live events-industry giant, leaving its monopoly intact after weeks of negotiations with lobbyists that excluded the antitrust division. An ally of JD Vance whose “America First Antitrust Policy” won her the admiration of the populist New Right, Slater entered her mandate with a rare combination of strong bipartisan support in Congress and from the MAGA grassroots, with Trump hyping her promise to rein in Big Tech, but began clashing with Bondi and other DOJ officials beginning in July when Slater sought to block a merger between wireless infrastructure giants Hewlett-Packard and Juniper Networks. Two of Slater’s deputies were ousted by Bondi after clashing with HP lobbyists, after which Bondi’s chief of staff Chad Mizelle pushed the merger through over Slater’s objections. One of the ousted deputies, Roger Alford, railed against “MAGA-In-Name-Only lobbyists” and DOJ officials whom he said had “perverted justice and acted inconsistent with the rule of law.” In recent months, it became clear that Slater’s letter-of-the-law approach was incompatible with the Trump Administration’s deal-making, corporate-friendly environment; she felt undermined as it became an open secret that lobbyists wanting to push through their ‘megadeal’ mergers could go around Slater to DOJ leadership to get deals done, a prominent example of which was Trump’s announcement that he would involve himself personally with her review of the Netflix/Warner Bros. merger deal. Last week, Slater declined to renew the contract of her chief of staff Sara Matar, and was abruptly overruled by Bondi who said she had no authority to dismiss her own staff.
Slater’s departure has divided the MAGA rank-and-file, with two competing narratives, one backing Bondi and the other favoring Slater, circulating in the right-wing mediasphere. Biden adviser Reed Showalter observed that her ouster means “the end of this type of populist antitrust in the Trump administration… what we’re going to see is something that matches much more closely with a direct pay-to-play scheme.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats have called for an investigation into her ouster, which Warren said “looks like corruption,” noting that “a small army of MAGA-aligned lawyers and lobbyists have been trying to sell off merger approvals that will increase prices and harm innovation to the highest bidder,” and that antitrust cases at the DOJ, now without Slater’s oversight, “seem to reek of double-dealing.” One of Slater’s allies told Free Press that her ouster was “the story of this administration,” where “competent technocrats do not survive the den of vipers.” At least one prominent Trump official, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, is under pressure to resign after having changed his story several times regarding the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. In a Substack article posted the day after Lutnick’s testimony to a Senate committee, Nobel economist Paul Krugman singled out Lutnick as an example of the type of people the Administration attracted into its orbit, suggesting that Trump loyalists may not be “evil masterminds” so much as “stupid, amoral grifters.”
MOVEMENT TRACKER
No ICE in this arena! Italians and U.S. Athletes speak out against ICE at Winter Olympics in Milan. Once again, global sports has become a forum for political contestation, as news that ICE agents would be ‘assisting with security’ for the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy sparked outrage among Milanese residents and the host of international athletes and fans visiting for the competition. Although a division of DHS known as HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) customarily has a small security presence alongside the Secret Service at international sporting events, observers noted that Trump’s use of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at an international event – especially given the role HSI now plays domestically as “Trump’s personal political police” – would be unprecedented. In an interview with RTL Radio, Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala made it clear that ICE, “a militia that kills,” would “not be welcome in Milan, without a doubt.” He then added indignantly, “Can’t we just say no to Trump for once? We can take care of their security ourselves. We don’t need ICE.” Even Italy’s far-right newspaper, La Repubblica, denounced the proposed ICE presence and claimed that the Trump-aligned Meloni government had briefly looked into blocking ICE’s participation in the U.S. diplomatic contingent with Marco Rubio and JD Vance, who planned to attend the opening ceremony. Opposition parties in Italy, including the Green and Left Alliance, circulated petitions to the Italian government and OOC to bar ICE’s entry into the country and participation in U.S. security. The Italian Interior Minister reassured Parliament a few days later that a small number of HSI agents would remain inside the U.S. Embassy in a support role and would not include personnel involved in U.S. immigration actions. Nonetheless, throngs of Milanese residents greeted the start of the Games with demonstrations against ICE and creeping fascism, and in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis, marching to the Piazza XXV Aprile, named for the day of liberation from fascism at the end of World War II. Protestors from Left parties and descendants of anti-fascist Partisans blew and handed out plastic whistles, an essential and now iconic tool in Minneapolis’ resistance against ICE, and held signs like “Never again means never again for anyone” and “ICE in my drink, not in my city.” One protestor said it was a “good opportunity to show that the rest of the world is not OK with what’s happening in Minnesota.” More militant protests erupted as international contingents to the Games, including Rubio and Vance, arrived in the city for the opening ceremonies; Vance and Rubio were booed in the stadium during the opening ceremony itself as protests raged in the surrounding streets against ICE and against Israel, which was allowed to compete despite the genocide in Gaza while Russia faced restrictions due to the war in Ukraine. Footage of JD Vance being booed was blocked on X and versions of NBC’s official coverage where audible boos could be heard over the music were later removed from Peacock.
As the Games commenced, dissent against ICE and the Trump Administration also came from the athletes on Team USA itself, some of whom hail from Minnesota. The USA Figure Skating, Hockey, and Speedskating teams banded together to rename their shared athlete hospitality suite, originally named “Ice House,” to “Winter House” as a gesture to publicly disassociate themselves with the immigration enforcement agency. At an early press conference, skier Hunter Hess drew heat from Trump for speaking out about the “mixed emotions” he had in representing the United States at this moment, saying, “There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t… Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.” After Trump attacked Hess on social media, calling him a “loser” and “very hard to root for,” other top athletes rallied to his defense, including Korean-American snowboarding star Chloe Kim, who called on fellow Team USA members to “stand up for each other.” Three-time Olympic cross-country skiing champion Jessie Diggins, who grew up in Minneapolis, posted a picture of herself with a flag on Instagram with a caption that read: "I want to make sure you know who I'm racing for when I get to the start line at the Olympics… I’m racing for an American people who stand for love, for acceptance, for compassion, honesty and respect for others. I do not stand for hate or violence or discrimination.” Minnesota-based Team USA hockey players Kelly Pannek and Taylor Heise denounced Border Patrol’s murder of Alex Pretti as “unnecessary and horrifying” and showed solidarity with their friends and family on the streets during the general strike, saying they were proud to “represent the tens of thousands of people that show up on some of the coldest days of the year to stand and fight for what they believe in." British-American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who lives in the United States but is competing for Great Britain in the Games, said he received death threats and vitriol from MAGA trolls after a social media post showing a picture of his writing “F**k ICE” in the snow and urging fans to call the Senate to block DHS funding. On Tuesday, 54-year-old curler Minnesotan Rich Ruhonen, the oldest member of Team USA, spoke out about “the stuff happening right around where we live,” saying that as a lawyer, “it’s clear that what is happening in my city is wrong” and expressed his love for Minnesotans that are “coming out, showing the love, the compassion, integrity and respect for others that they don’t know and helping them out.”
Show ICE the Red Card: Minnesota women’s soccer team, MLS supporters, municipalities, and lawmakers say no to ICE at the World Cup. ICE director Todd Lyons confirmed this week at a House Oversight hearing that ICE will play a “key role” in security at the World Cup football tournament this summer, sparking concern and protest from officials, fans and lawmakers across the country. NJ Rep. Nellie Pou sounded the alarm after she asked Lyons directly if he would “commit to pausing operations at FIFA matches and other FIFA events,” and failed to receive an answer. Using herself, a Latina woman who speaks Spanish, as an example, she asked Lyons if her appearance “would be enough for ICE agents to harass me or shove me into one of your unmarked cars?” to which Lyons replied that he is “dedicated to the safety and security of all World Cup participants,” but did not elaborate on any details of ICE’s planned role. Pou then asked if Lyons understood that “if they [visiting fans] feel that they’re going to be wrongfully incarcerated or wrongfully pulled out, that’s going to hurt this entire process” as well as local communities and the country’s “national reputation,” to which Lyons replied, “Yes ma’am.” Pou cited signs that visitors’ confidence was “plummeting and jeopardising the success of the World Cup” as a result of ICE’s recent actions in Minneapolis and elsewhere, and with fellow House Democrats LaMonica McIver and Eric Swallwell, called for he Task Force on Enhancing Security for Special Events in the United States to convene an emergency hearing on whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities threaten the success of FIFA World Cup matches being held in the United States this summer. European fan group Football Supporters Europe recently expressed that fans were “extremely concerned by the ongoing militarisation of police forces in the US,” and the European Democratic Party (EDP) is considering asking European national football teams to pull out of the competition if the United States could not provide safety guarantees for international visitors.
In Minnesota, USL W women’s soccer team Aurora FC took a strong stance against ICE in their state, starting with the phrase “Soccer exists because of immigrants.” As Operation Metro Surge continued to terrorize Minneapolis, they followed the long tradition of anti-fascist football clubs by helping organize with fans and their communities, directing fans to know-your-rights trainings and asking parents and fans to support local immigrant defense networks, as well as implementing safety protocols such as locking doors to keep ICE out of meetings, matches, and the team store. They have also helped to raise money to help immigrant-owned businesses recover, and donate a portion of their ticket sales to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. Local officials in Chester, a town in upstate New York, have banded together with local groups, school parent associations, and other Hudson Valley elected officials in opposing the ICE purchase of a former big-box store building just outside city limits. Like other municipalities, local officials may find themselves with limited authority to stop the purchases, but Chester officials are citing the proximity of a youth sports facility less than 1,000 feet from the site to assert jurisdictional control to reject ICE’s plans for a detention center. Hundreds of residents have protested the plans, citing its impact on public safety, environment, and local infrastructure. Likewise, elected officials in King County, outside of Seattle, Washington, are using their municipal powers to reject ICE and protect immigrants as well as international visitors who come to the Seattle area for this summer’s World Cup. The County Executive’s office is drawing up ordinances barring ICE from publicly owned spaces within the county, and raising a $2 million fund to help immigrant families with rental, food, and legal aid assistance starting immediately. USL team Vermont Green FC has called on the U.S. Soccer Federation and FIFA to take a stand against ICE violence in Minneapolis and to directly address the safety concerns of competitors, fans, and international visitors by being transparent about security plans for the World Cup. Minnesota United midfielder Joaquin Pereyra, an Argentinian national who plays for the MLS team with a green card, expressed his fears for himself and his family as the team goes back into preseason training. He shared his experiences in Minneapolis recently with sports publication AS USA, including making sure to take his passport and green card wherever he goes, being very aware that professional players like him are not immune to ICE harassment and detention. In Los Angeles, LA Galaxy fan group Angel City Brigade took team owners to task last summer after management banned a 12-year-old ACB member for holding an anti-ICE banner that was “unauthorized by the team.” During a recent home game against Vancouver, Angel City Brigade, along with three other fan groups, walked silently into the stadium holding protest banners to protest the silence of LA Galaxy’s management as ICE raids and National Guard troops occupied the city last June. The four groups, usually the raucous “spirit section” at matches, stayed silent for the first 12 minutes of the game before walking out in protest. At the year’s big game for the “other football,” street teams from cultural protest organization Contra-ICE fanned out at the Super Bowl to hand out towels bearing the phrase “ICE OUT” to fans at the stadium, wearing costumes and carrying art inspired by Bad Bunny, and planned a protest action during the halftime show – the most-watched event of the year in the United States. And on Wednesday, rapper Cardi B sparked some backlash from DHS after she took the stage at Coachella Valley with strong words in defense of her immigrant fans, singing a cover of Selena’s “Como La Flor” before addressing the crowd, saying “B***h, if ICE comes in here, we’re going to jump their a**es!” and declaring that federal officers “ain’t takin’ my fans!”
