Redistricting
Week of August 1-7, 2025
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. TDC should not be understood as endorsing or otherwise any of the specific content of the information round-up.
TRUMP TRACKER: Administration actions
Texas gerrymandering attempt touches off national partisan ‘arms race’ of redistricting ahead of midterm elections. The Texas GOP’s initiation of a rare mid-decade redistricting process in Texas – undertaken at Trump’s request in a bid to preserve the Republican party’s slim majority in the House of Representatives – has ignited an ‘era of unconstrained partisan warfare’ over control of Congress before a single vote is cast in the 2026 midterms. As Texas Republicans considered a gerrymandered congressional district map that would likely meet Trump’s goal of adding five more Republican seats in the House, California Governor Gavin Newsom threatened to redraw California’s map to counter the GOP’s Texas gains with more Democratic seats in California. After a state House panel voted on Saturday to advance the new map to a vote, more than 50 Texas Democrats fled the state en masse in order to deny quorum and prevent a final legislative vote to adopt the map – which Democratic Caucus chair Greg Wu called an “intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal" with Trump. After Texas Governor Greg Abbott made a legally improbable threat to remove Wu and other Democrats from office if they did not return, the Texas state House issued civil warrants for the lawmakers’ arrest (which are only enforceable within state lines). Texas Democrats arrived in Illinois under the aegis of Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, who was joined by DNC chair Ken Martin in a show of support at a Chicago press conference on Tuesday, August 5. Also on Tuesday, Gov. Abbott filed a suit with the Texas Supreme Court to remove Wu and other Democrats from office as Trump weighed in on the battle, saying the GOP was ‘entitled’ to five more seats in Congress. By Wednesday, the fight in Texas had escalated into a national ‘political arms race’ as governors from multiple red and blue states expressed willingness to redraw their own states’ maps along partisan lines. Leaders such as Obama’s former Attorney General Eric Holder, who had long fought against gerrymandering, appeared to reverse course as he encouraged fellow Democratic leaders to ‘fight fire with fire’ and respond to GOP efforts in kind. Other lawmakers objected to the partisan ‘race to the bottom’, particularly blue state Republicans who would be cut out in a tit-for-tat gerrymandering battle. On Wednesday, several Texas Democrats staying in Illinois had to be evacuated from their hotel due to a bomb threat; and on Thursday, Sen. John Cornyn announced that the FBI had agreed to help Texas law enforcement track down and arrest the errant Democrats. Gov. Pritzker responded that he would not allow state law enforcement to cooperate with the FBI and regarded the Texas Democrats as being under his state’s protection. As other red states such as Florida and Indiana consider following Texas’ lead and Democratic party leaders prepare to go ‘scorched earth’ in retaliation, observers warn that representative democracy itself could be the ultimate casualty in a vicious cycle of partisan power grabs; one Texas Democrat testified that the Republicans’ ultimate endgame is the erosion of the Voting Rights Act.
Trump’s world tariff regime goes into effect as economy founders on stagflation woes. On Thursday, August 7, Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ for most of the world’s countries officially went into effect, raising the average tariff rate to over 17%, the highest tax on imports and exports in the United States since the Great Depression. The New York Times has published and updated a map of countries and their respective tariffs. While Trump’s much-touted “90 deals in 90 days” push fell short of its ambitious goal, having outlined trade agreements with a few partners before the August 1st deadline, the tariffs deepen the trade war Trump began as countries scramble to continue negotiations with the United States and secure tariff exemptions. CNN lists the current tariffs for the nearly 40 countries with levels above the 10% baseline rate; while temporary ‘truces’ with Mexico and China were extended pending further negotiations. The New York Times notes how Trump’s ‘Art of the Deal’ approach infuses his trade agenda, leveraging the threat of high tariffs to secure cash and investment deals from trading partners. Switzerland, caught by surprise by a 39% tariff, one of the highest in the world, approached the Administration with promises to negotiate a ‘more attractive offer’ to cut its rates. Trump also demonstrated his use of tariffs as a political tool, imposing additional punitive tariffs on India for its continued use of Russian oil as trade talks collapsed; this puts India in the company of Brazil, whose 50% levy was imposed last week in retaliation for its prosecution of disgraced former president Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, who was arrested and placed on house arrest this week ahead of his pending trial for an attempted coup. Brazilian president Lula da Silva appeared nonplussed over the punitive measures, telling Reuters that “I won’t humiliate myself” by running to the White House asking for a deal; instead, Lula is talking with India and other BRICS partners directly, and requesting a formal consultation from the World Trade Organization regarding the unilaterally imposed tariff. Trump also announced a 100% tariff on imported semiconductors and processing chips, but granted exemptions to companies that pledged to make their products in the United States, giving a notable exemption to Apple after CEO Tim Cook presented him with a 24-karat gold plaque and a pledge to invest $100 billion in U.S. suppliers and companies. Market reaction as the tariffs took effect was mixed, following earlier pessimism around rising unemployment and burgeoning stagflation as the economy begins to show signs of cracking under the trade war pressure. Economists warn of more painful times ahead; consumers are starting to feel the effect of tariffs on prices for everyday goods as U.S. companies are running out of options for forestalling price inflation. The Economist provides charts tracking the tariffs’ projected burdens on consumer prices, as Toyota warns of a potential £7.1 billion pound hit from tariffs and the U.S. farm sector is already suffering from record trade deficits as well as historically low commodity prices that have put U.S. farmers in a “state of emergency”.
Trump fires Bureau of Labor Statistics head after bleak jobs report, stoking concerns over the future integrity of federal economic data. On Friday, August 1, Trump ordered the firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer just hours after the agency’s latest release of jobs data showed a particularly grim outlook for the U.S. labor market. The report showed just 73,000 jobs added in July, as well as revisions to the last two months of data indicating that the labor market was much weaker than previously thought; with payrolls over the last three months showing the weakest growth since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Bloomberg notes that without a modest acceleration in the healthcare sector, the U.S. ‘wouldn’t have added any jobs at all.’ Trump ranted on Truth Social about the jobs numbers, which he called “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad” and called for McEntarfer, a ‘Biden appointee,’ to be fired. McEntarfer was confirmed to the position in 2024 by a bipartisan vote, which included then-Senator JD Vance. The firing was widely denounced by economists, longtime civil servants and former government officials for politicizing a nonpartisan source of data that is key to the work of the Fed, private investors, and other areas of government. The Economic Policy Institute issued a statement characterizing McEntarfer as a “highly respected labor economist” who in her position is “bound by strict norms of nonpartisanship and statistical integrity,” and that her firing is a “deeply dangerous attack on the foundations of a functioning democracy.” Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said that with the firing Trump had “destroyed the credibility of this extraordinarily important source of information.” Private fund manager Yung Yu-Ma noted that the firing would "spark general anxiety in the market that politics may bleed over into future economic considerations". Other federal workers expressed concern that the firing would be a precedent that could lead to “political interference” in their own work. Other economists, as well as the New York Times editorial board, cited the perils that have befallen regimes that politicized economic data. There is no evidence for Trump’s claims of “rigged” numbers, and a Labor Department report from Thursday, August 7 showing unemployment claims climbing to its highest level since the pandemic reinforces the picture of a weakened labor market. While Trump pledged to hire a successor who will ensure future BLS data “can’t be manipulated for political purposes,” Steve Bannon is already pushing for the appointment of a “MAGA Republican” to the role, strongly suggesting Project 2025 contributor EJ Antoni as a possible contender.
Trump calls for new census that excludes undocumented immigrants amid redistricting furor. As the GOP pushes to pursue redistricting efforts far ahead of its usual decadal schedule, Trump announced on Thursday, August 7 that he has ordered the Commerce Department to begin work on a new census that excludes undocumented immigrants. Census data is, by law, collected every ten years, with the last census in 2020, and does help determine the apportionment of representative seats as well as the distribution of federal funds. Posting on Truth Social, Trump sought an updated census based on “modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024.” While a new census following Trump’s preferred parameters would likely benefit Republicans politically in a reapportionment process, experts say that conducting a new census, especially mid-decade, would be extremely difficult if not impossible due to practical and legal constraints. Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, power over the ‘actual enumeration’ of the U.S. population; moreover, the 14th Amendment requires that the census count “the whole number of persons in each State” regardless of citizenship status. In 2019, the Supreme Court blocked Trump from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census based on 14th Amendment grounds. Many experts see Trump’s push for new statistics as part of a pattern of attempts to control federal data, from DOGE’s scrubbing of race and gender data from government databases to his recent firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner for weak job numbers. Professor Margo Anderson, a historian of the census, opines that Trump is “basically destroying the federal statistical system” by wanting “numbers that support his political accomplishments.” John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, condemned Trump’s push for a new census as part of a “campaign to flout the U.S. Constitution in order to predetermine election outcomes so he can consolidate his power and avoid accountability to the American people."
Israel’s security cabinet votes for Netanyahu plan to ‘conquer’ Gaza via full military occupation amid internal dissent and mounting starvation deaths. As UN officials confirmed that a “worst–case scenario” starvation crisis is playing out in Gaza with nearly 200 dead from malnutrition, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff visited the territory on a “highly orchestrated tour” of U.S.-backed aid distribution sites on Friday, August 1. Just two days after the diplomats’ departure, Israeli forces killed 27 Palestinians at an aid distribution site. While visiting Tel Aviv on Saturday, Witkoff assured Israeli families that the United States ‘has a plan’ to bring the hostages home safely and that an ‘end to the war’ was near. Two days later, officials inside Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office told media outlets the ‘decision has been made’ to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, a move that Israeli critics said would only ‘endanger further’ the hostages. On Tuesday, August 5, Netanyahu indicated he would call a Cabinet meeting to urge the “full conquest” of Gaza, a move that has been opposed both by top figures within the IDF and Israeli hostages’ families. Military leaders presented Netanyahu with options for a ‘full occupation’ scenario amid tensions between political leadership and the IDF, which remained vocally opposed to a full-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip, citing a host of logistical issues as well as concern for the remaining hostages. Defense Minister Israel Katz said he would “ensure the military carries out any policy set forth by the political leadership regarding the next phase of Israel's war in Gaza.” The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement opposing military action, as family members of the hostages called out Netanyahu for having “lied to us all” and “taking advantage of our pain” by thwarting a deal that would have brought the hostages home. Cabinet transcripts leaked to Israeli media on Thursday showed that Netanyahu deliberately rejected multiple proposals for securing the release of hostages and decided, against the advice of military and security officials, to starve the people of Gaza as a strategy of war, cutting off all aid to “force Hamas to surrender.” Early on Friday, August 8, the Israeli government approved a plan for the military occupation of Gaza City, over the objections of the IDF’s top brass and the international community.
Trump escalates tensions with Russia by deploying nuclear submarines in response to social media row; Russia ditches nuclear treaty. Approaching the end of Trump’s 10-day deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine before imposing tariffs, Trump announced on Friday, August 1 that he had deployed two nuclear submarines to ‘tactical positions’ near Russia in response to “highly provocative statements” made online by Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s security council. Medvedev and Trump had been trading barbs on social media over the past week, and Trump’s announcement was slammed by critics as a “reckless” and “terrifying” response to the “stupid statements” made by Medvedev. On Monday, the Kremlin issued a statement warning against ‘nuclear rhetoric’ and seemingly distancing itself from Medvedev’s provocative remarks, saying “there can be no winner in a nuclear war” and “we do not think there is talk of any escalation.” As U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff headed to Moscow on Wednesday, August 6, the Russian foreign ministry announced that Russia will no longer uphold its obligations under the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with the United States, raising questions about the future of nuclear proliferation. While the treaty itself has been considered obsolete for some time, the timing of the announcement and Medvedev’s remarks about a “new reality” facing Russia’s opponents has sparked fears of a new nuclear arms race between the United States, Russia, and possibly China. While Putin seems unlikely to capitulate to Trump’s demands in the face of tariff sanctions once the deadline expires on Friday, he has agreed to meet with Trump next week for talks, possibly hosted by the UAE, to discuss the Ukraine situation.
Immigration Updates: Trump Administration eyes closer integration of ICE and military as Congressional report details hundreds of human rights abuses in detention facilities. This week, the New Republic obtained a leaked memo from the Department of Homeland Security outlining discussions between DHS and the Pentagon around coordinating more closely with the military for domestic immigration enforcement. The memo “suggests DHS is anticipating many more uses of the military in urban centers… for years to come,” raising alarms from civil liberties experts around DHS’ “intent to use the military within the United States at a level not seen since Japanese internment.” Last week, the Trump Administration announced plans to deploy National Guard troops to immigration jails in 20 states with Republican governors, marking the first time that the National Guard has been “used to support immigration enforcement and deportation in the interior of the country.” These deployments come on the heels of the Trump Administration’s announcements this week of new plans to install large-scale detention facilities at U.S. military bases, including a 1,000-person capacity facility at Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas, and up to 3,000 beds at Fort Dix in New Jersey. DHS is also in talks with Louisiana state officials to house detainees at Angola State Prison, as Kristi Noem announced plans to build a new facility near Indianapolis in the style of Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’, already dubbed the ‘Speedway Slammer’. Georgia plans to expand the Folkston ICE Processing Center in Charlton County, a private facility run by the GEO Group, into one of the largest ICE detention facilities in the country. DHS inspections of the Folkston facility in 2021 revealed “unsanitary and dilapidated” conditions, including mold and insect infestations; last year, an Indian national died at the facility after nine months of detention. Also this week, a report compiled by the office of Senator Jon Ossoff after a months-long investigative probe “identified 510 credible reports of human rights abuse” against people in ICE detention; including 41 allegations of physical or sexual abuse, 18 allegations of abuse against children, and 14 allegations of abuse against pregnant women. DHS denied the allegations, insisting that all ICE detainees are provided with “proper meals, medical treatment, and opportunities to communicate” with family and lawyers. Meanwhile, Talking Points Memo reports on the ‘information blackout’ being enacted around Alligator Alcatraz, as public records regarding contractors at the site have disappeared from an online transparency website operated by the state. NBC News featured an exclusive interview with a former security contractor who worked briefly at Alligator Alcatraz and described the ‘overwhelming’ and ‘inhumane’ conditions in which detainees were kept. The Wall Street Journal reports on the difficulty of tracking detained migrants as they are moved around an “opaque” detention system; and three Democratic representatives described being “trapped” by masked ICE agents this week as they attempted to inspect a detention facility in Brooklyn.
Tracking the Money: Crypto creeps into 401(k), Palantir’s meteoric rise. On Thursday, August 7, Trump signed a new executive order allowing 401(k) retirement funds access to investment opportunities in ‘alternative assets’ such as cryptocurrency, private equity, real estate and other digital assets. While federal rules had discouraged defined-contribution employee retirement accounts from investing in alternative assets as a matter of fiduciary responsibility, Trump’s order opens the door to riskier investments such as crypto, while also bailing out the flagging private equity sector with access to the ‘holy grail’ of over $12 trillion in fresh capital tucked away in American workers’ retirement savings. Trump’s order is a gift to the crypto and private equity industries that had spent big on the 2024 election and Trump’s inauguration; while millions of workers’ retirement savings will be exposed to higher risks and fewer investor protections. This week, Peter Thiel-backed data firm Palantir rocketed from relative obscurity to being one of Wall Street’s hottest tickets as it reported a whopping 48% growth in the second quarter of 2025, topping $1 billion in revenue and capping a stock price surge of over 500% over the past year. CEO Alex Karp credits the rise of AI for Palantir’s success, although observers note how government contracts for the company have surged in the Trump era as it helps to build a massive surveillance database from the personal data of millions of Americans to aid Trump’s mass deportation program, supporting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and apparently helps the LAPD and other law enforcement agencies carry out racial profiling and mass surveillance; leading Silicon Valley investor Paul Graham to accuse Palantir of “building the infrastructure of the police state.”
MOVEMENT TRACKER
Republican lawmakers once again confronted by constituents at August recess townhalls as they attempt to defend the ‘big, beautiful’ budget bill. As members of Congress head back to their home districts for the August recess, Republican lawmakers tasked with selling the GOP narrative of the ‘big, beautiful’ budget reconciliation bill to their constituents at local town halls are being ‘eaten alive’ by angry voters on issues ranging from the Epstein scandal to Medicaid cuts. For Nebraska Congressman Mike Flood, the heckles started 30 seconds into his prepared speech extolling the virtues of the budget bill and never let up; the crowd of approximately 700 constituents shouted “Liar!” and chanted “Vote him out!” as speakers harangued Flood on issues like SNAP cuts and tax dollars for fascism. In Wisconsin, Rep. Bryan Steil was similarly eviscerated by a ‘brutal’ crowd of constituents who challenged him on the morality of ICE raids and Medicaid cuts. A small crowd of protestors staged a ‘mock funeral procession’ for democracy, leaving a coffin at Steil’s door (which, the protestors clarified, was for the ‘death of democracy’ and not a threat to Steil or his family). Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson warned Republicans that they will continue to get more of the same unless the Trump Administration makes good on important promises to the base, such as releasing the Epstein files. Many Republicans are exploring alternatives to the town hall format, such as telephone calls or smaller meetings with verified constituents. In their absence, activists have been holding empty-seat town halls, and Democrats such as Mark Pocan and Yassamin Ansari are holding their own town halls in Republican-held districts to press voters on Republicans’ failures on the budget and especially Epstein. A recent DCCC memo asserted that “the sense of buyer’s remorse is real and growing daily… House Democrats will continue to be on offense, showing up in Republican-held districts and hammering the contrast that House Republicans work for the billionaires, not the people.”
From Alligator Alcatraz to local communities, anti-ICE activists use a diversity of tactics and share lessons learned. At Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention facility, inmates are currently in their 11th day of a hunger strike protesting what they call ‘dangerous’ and ‘inhumane’ living conditions. Cuban national Pedro Hernandez, hospitalized due to the strike, said that “I don’t want food, I refuse any treatment… because I’m fighting for my family and all Cubans, and I belong where my people are, in prison, suffering the same hardship they are.” The Miccosukee Tribe, on whose ancestral lands the facility was built in near secrecy, filed suit with several environmental groups against the DHS, ICE and Florida state agencies alleging violations of environmental regulations and Tribal sovereignty. On Thursday, August 7, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a halt to new construction at the facility for at least two weeks as further arguments in the case are heard. Korean university student Yeonsoo Go was released this week from ICE custody after she was taken from a routine visa hearing in late July. Her arrest sparked widespread outrage from community members and local lawmakers, who helped secure her release. After her release, Go’s mother told reporters, “there’s more who need the support.” L.A. Taco shares lessons learned from migrant detainees who were able to beat ICE in court and gain their freedom back. They also share a list of twenty-six nonprofits in the Southern California area doing direct work supporting migrants that need donations from the community. In Sacramento, trained members of NorCal Resist are tracking ICE as they accompany migrants to immigration court appointments. Robert Reich compiles a list of immediate grassroots actions people can take locally to defend their communities and resist fascism; and the Nation shares a historical reflection on how similar community-based defense actions and local organizations helped build the Danish resistance to fascism in World War II.
As the ‘dam breaks’ on public opinion regarding Gaza, official and grassroots actions continue the pressure to stop arming Israel. As Peter Beinart observed on Substack, U.S. discourse on Gaza appears to have turned a corner towards greater solidarity with the Palestinian people. An international survey of public opinion showed majorities in five countries supporting arms, fuel, or machinery embargoes on Israel in order to press for an end to the war. Bloomberg speaks to its Israel bureau chief about changing perceptions, media coverage and the shift in public opinion as more of the public recognize and speak out against the genocide and nations move to recognize Palestinian statehood. In a potentially huge win for the BDS movement, the Norwegian government is reviewing investments of its $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund (the largest such fund in the world) with the possibility of divesting its stakes in Israeli companies participating in the occupation of the West Bank or the war on Gaza. More than 40 protestors from the Jewish group IfNotNow were arrested at the New York Trump Hotel this week demanding more aid to Gaza and an end to the war. Also in New York, 50 members of Jewish Voices for Peace were arrested outside the Manhattan offices of Sens. Kristen Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer as they protested New York Democrats’ continued support and votes to send arms to Israel. A pro-Palestine activist group at the University of Maryland won a $100,000 settlement from the university in what Palestine Legal calls the largest financial penalty ever levied on a university for violating the free speech rights of pro-Palestine protestors. And as more Israelis within Israel question the morality of the war in Gaza, families of the Israeli hostages launched a protest flotilla toward Gaza this week, calling for an immediate ceasefire, end to the war and a peaceful return of the hostages.
Grassroots Organizing and Labor Actions. The group Choose Democracy has compiled a website for new activists outlining a menu of various actions people can initiate in their own communities as well as resources for organizing. This week’s edition of Truthout’s Movement Memos podcast features a discussion of the role of public assemblies as a way of strengthening community resistance to authoritarianism; and Sasha Davis reflects on the importance for social movements of occupying and reclaiming physical space, not only for disruption and visibility but also for prefiguring new forms of social authority and self-governance. As the Trump Administration guts environmental protections and pollution regulations, activists from Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ have launched a nationwide ‘Toxic Billionaire’ bus tour to confront fossil fuel financiers directly. In San Francisco, activists gathered outside Palantir’s headquarters to protest the company’s government contracts and call attention to the collaboration between AI companies and the U.S. war machine. The Nation’s Laura Flanders sat down with labor activists Alex Han and Tarso Luis Ramos this week to discuss the vital role of worker organizing in an age of growing authoritarianism. The AFL-CIO is continuing their “Better In A Union” bus tour this week and over the next several weeks to support contract fights around the country under the #OneVoiceOneFuture slogan. The bus tour’s next stop is in Cleveland this coming weekend, where labor leaders will be joined by the pro-union punk band Dropkick Murphys. And to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Postal Service, the American Postal Workers Union is launching a national campaign to mobilize support for the U.S. Postal Service as a public institution and defend it against growing threats of privatization. Participants in the campaign are encouraged to introduce resolutions to state, local and Tribal government bodies to pass proclamations affirming support for the USPS as a public service. The AFL-CIO is also calling on the public to contact their representatives to help pass the Protect America’s Workforce Act in the House of Representatives as a countermeasure to Trump’s executive order stripping collective bargaining rights from federal workers.
Upcoming Protests, Actions, and Events.
Saturday, August 9: The Bay Area Palestinian Youth Movement will be holding a rally to Rise Up for Gaza at the BCG offices in San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center to protest BCG’s role in the U.S.-Israel backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid scheme. More information can be found on Indybay and the Palestinian Youth Movement Instagram account.
Sunday, August 10: The IfNotNow Movement will be holding a mass organizing call online for the Jewish community to help Stop the Starvation in Gaza. More information can be found on their website.
Wednesday, August 13: Stand Up For Science will be holding an online event called “Stand Up for Psych: Suicide Research” featuring a team of professional suicide prevention researchers who will talk about their work and what the community can do to support the work. More information and RSVP links can be found at StandUpForScience.Net.
Wednesday, August 13: ProPublica will be holding a virtual webinar on the Trump Administration’s Apparent Conflicts of Interest; discussing ethical and legal questions facing top Trump officials amid Musk-linked roles, stock sales and dark money deals. More information and a Zoom RSVP link can be found on this website.
Saturday, August 16: Social Security Works is calling for a nationwide mobilization in defense of Social Security called “Protect Our Checks”. More information on local events, an organizer’s toolkit, and other resources can be found at ProtectOurChecks.com.
Saturday, August 16: Federal workers, scientists, healthcare providers, and advocates will be rallying in Atlanta to defend science and public research programs currently on the Trump Administration’s chopping block. More information can be found at the Sound Science Saves Lives webpage.
Tuesday, August 19: The Brennan Center for Justice will be holding a virtual event to discuss the Past, Present, and Future of the Voting Rights Act and what is left of the landmark 1965 legislation amid attacks from the Trump Administration. More information and an RSVP link can be found on their website.
Saturday, August 23: 50501 Chicago will be holding a demonstration (separate from the August 2nd action) calling for ‘No Camps, No War, No 1984’. More information can be found on the protest flyer or on 50501 Chicago’s Bluesky account.
Lawsuit Updates.
A federal judge has ordered the Trump Administration to provide responses to a set of questions submitted by the Democratic Party and pro-voting rights groups challenging Executive Order 14248, which imposes voter registration requirements that threaten to disenfranchise millions of Americans.
On August 1, a federal appeals court denied the Trump Administration’s request for a stay of a Temporary Restraining Order prohibiting the Department of Homeland Security and ICE from carrying out ‘roving’ immigration raids that rely on racial profiling and warrantless arrests.
Zeteo reports on a major trial in Boston examining the Trump Administration’s shadowy operation targeting pro-Palestine activism on campuses, asking whether the First Amendment does indeed cover noncitizens in a case that could determine the future of free speech in the Trump era.
Civil rights organizations in New York are suing the Trump Administration to prevent ICE officers from abducting migrants who show up to New York courthouses for routine appointments.
Stanford’s student newspaper sued the Trump Administration for threatening to deport any noncitizen who criticizes Israel or U.S. foreign policy, saying the government is violating freedom of speech and intimidating campus journalists into censoring their own articles. This lawsuit is one of many challenging the Trump Administration’s pressure campaign on colleges and crackdown on pro-Palestine protests.
A federal judge granted the requests of Oregon Humanities and counterpart organizations in other states to bar the Trump Administration from withholding federal grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
California and 14 other states, plus the District of Columbia, sued the Trump Administration this week to challenge its executive order banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth. CA Attorney General Rob Bonta asserts that the Trump Administration has “trampled over state rights, overstepped their constitutional authority and endangered vulnerable minors” with this order.
