Blog Betty (Thomas Friedman is a Great Man was an online novel): 11/16/25

Friday, November 21, 2025

The Crooked Court

Today the Crooked Court met. Mark Sherman (AP) reports:

The Supreme Court is to meet in private Friday with a high-profile issue on its agenda — President Donald Trump ’s birthright citizenship order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

The justices could say as soon as Monday whether they will hear Trump’s appeal of lower court rulings that have uniformly struck down the citizenship restrictions. They have not taken effect anywhere in the United States.

If the court steps in now, the case would be argued in the spring, with a definitive ruling expected by early summer.

The birthright citizenship order, which Trump signed on the first day of his second term in the White House, is part of his administration's broad immigration crackdown. Other actions include immigration enforcement surges in several cities and the first peacetime invocation of the 18th century Alien Enemies Act.

They should not even be considering hearing Chump's nonsense. This is the law, this has been law. It is written law, it is law by custom.

I also think that Chump needs to be addressed for his frivolous use of the courts. That's for his government nonsense like this -- the law is clear and has always been clear on this -- and for all of his lawsuits against journalists and others. He is abusing his power of office. If he has any personal lawsuits, he should bring them when he is not the president.

Adam Lynch writes:

Former prosecutor Andrew Warren tells MS Now that it’s easy to dismiss the Trump administration’s disastrous Wednesday judicial hearing as what happens when you replace real lawyers with “incompetent lackeys.” But this isn’t just about a president’s abysmal hiring standards.

Justice Department prosecutors admitted during the prosecution of a former FBI director James Comey that the grand jury that “approved” the pending indictment against Comey never voted on — or even reviewed — the actual indictment.

“But the magnitude of the prosecution’s incompetence plays a more sinister role as well: It masks the sheer extent of the pervasive and pernicious corruption and lawlessness that has been allowed to fester by this administration,” said Warren.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick found multiple serious problems with Halligan’s grand jury presentation. Halligan told jurors they did not need to rely on the evidence before them because the government supposedly had “better” evidence waiting at trial, which Warren described as an “egregious violation of fundamental rules that any competent attorney knows.”

Halligan, a real estate attorney temporarily charged with removing mentions of historical racism from the Smithsonian Institution before Trump tapped her as AG, also wrongly suggested Comey had no right to remain silent, which Warren said “anyone who has ever watched an episode of ‘Law & Order’” knows isn’t true. And now Lindsey’s case is on shaky ground if the indictment she filed in court turns out not to be the one the full grand jury actually reviewed.

This is the Crooked Court's fault. The six crooks on that court have given Chump the impression that he can do anything and that's not reality, that's not legality and it sure as hell isn't democracy.

John Roberts will be remembered as the worst Supreme Court justice ever, let alone chief justice. Part of a cabal that secretly plotted how to lie to the Senate to get confirmed for the Court with the intent -- conspiracy -- to hijack our democracy and delete the Constitution. We see you.

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Friday, November 21, 2025. Chump attacks and smears Democrats while revealing that the commander in chief has never even read the Uniform Code of Military Justice and a RAW STORY writer wants us to betray the Esptein survivors because the topic either ores him or makes him uncomfotable.

Let's start with Donald Chrump. What's the Convicted Felon done now? Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following:

Murray responds to outrageous posts from President Trump: “I am calling on every one of my Republican colleagues: show some courage. Don’t just brush this one off yet again. State plainly that the President is not above the law—it’s right there in the constitution. Don’t mince words: make it clear that calls for political violence are unacceptable.”

*** WATCH VIDEO HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE***

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a new video message condemning President Trump’s recent post calling for members of Congress to be arrested for stating that the President is not above the law and his later repost of a call to hang members of Congress.

WATCH HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE

In the video message, Senator Murray slams President Trump for endorsing political violence against elected members of Congress, saying:

“Just think about this, the President of the United States is using his platform to lift up people calling for political violence. And then, in his own words, he called this video: ‘Seditious behavior, punishable by death.’ This is twisted, dangerous stuff.

“As my colleagues, on both sides have said there is no room in our democracy for political violence, or for rhetoric that champions political violence. And as every single one of us remembers from our own oath, in this country we swear loyalty to the constitution, not to the President. The danger here should be obvious. Every single one of my colleagues should be here with me saying: President Trump’s behavior—his choice to amplify a dangerous call for violence—is completely unacceptable.

“There is a whole lot more I could say about how clearly unfit this President is for office. Believe me, I have some choice words. But in the interest of unity—I’ve tried to keep my message simple and restrained in the hopes that members on both sides will join me in saying this loud and clear. Because it’s clear the President needs to hear this message, but he needs to hear it from all of us. And frankly—I need to hear it from my colleagues too. I need to know my colleagues, who I work with every day, actually agree with me about the basic bedrock of our democracy.”

A full transcript of Senator Murray’s remarks in the video message is below:

“I was disturbed—genuinely horrified—to see President Trump call for members of Congress to be arrested for simply stating the fact that no one is above the law—not even the President. It is infuriating. It is enough to make your blood boil.

“I mean—I can’t think of anything more un-American, at least I couldn’t until Trump went further and reposted a call to hang members of Congress. All because Members of this Congress—veterans who served this country selflessly and proudly—did nothing other than simply state the plain letter of the law.

“Here’s what they said: ‘Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders… No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution.’

“I whole-heartedly agree. I’ll say it myself. To the soldiers bravely serving our nation—thank you. As a voice for many servicemembers from Washington state let me state unequivocally: you can refuse illegal orders.

“Just think about this, the President of the United States is using his platform to lift up people calling for political violence. And then, in his own words, he called this video: ‘Seditious behavior, punishable by death.’ This is twisted, dangerous stuff.

“As my colleagues, on both sides have said there is no room in our democracy for political violence, or for rhetoric that champions political violence.

“And as every single one of us remembers from our own oath, in this country we swear loyalty to the constitution, not to the President. The danger here should be obvious.

“Every single one of my colleagues should be here with me saying: President Trump’s behavior—his choice to amplify a dangerous call for violence—is completely unacceptable.

“There is a whole lot more I could say about how clearly unfit this President is for office. Believe me, I have some choice words. But in the interest of unity—I’ve tried to keep my message simple and restrained in the hopes that members on both sides will join me in saying this loud and clear.

“Because it’s clear the President needs to hear this message, but he needs to hear it from all of us.

“And frankly—I need to hear it from my colleagues too. I need to know my colleagues, who I work with every day, actually agree with me about the basic bedrock of our democracy. Because how am I supposed to sit across the table from people who are silent when the President lifts up voices saying Democrats should be hanged?

“A President who calls a simple recitation of the law ‘treasonous behavior, punishable by death?’

“We’ve seen where this path goes—where silence in the face of escalating calls for violence can lead. I was here on January 6^th, as were many of my colleagues. I was here while they built a gallows outside and chanted ‘hang Mike Pence.’

“Are we going to sit here and say nothing while the President riles up another crowd? Lifts up new calls for violence? Are we going to say nothing as they build another gallows?

“What exactly do my colleagues think they will be chanting this time? And why exactly do they think the President will care to stop the crowd when today he is the one lifting up calls for violence?

“We cannot wait. We cannot pretend we don’t know how serious President Trump’s actions are.

“Now, I know we may not all be in perfect agreement on how to respond, but this moment really requires us to speak with one voice.

“I am calling on every one of my Republican colleagues: show some courage.

“Don’t just brush this one off yet again. State plainly that the President is not above the law—it’s right there in the constitution. Don’t mince words: make it clear that calls for political violence are unacceptable. Something I have heard members on both sides of the aisle speak passionately about recently.

“None of that should be controversial. This is not a moment where our democracy can afford cowards and sycophants.

“I really hope every Member of Congress, every CEO, every community leader lifts up their voice.

“Say it plain: this kind of rhetoric is a disgrace—it’s not even close to acceptable coming from an American President. That is the bare minimum.”

###

Same topic, this is from last night's THE NEWSHOUR (PBS).

Amna Nawaz: Half-a-dozen Democrats in Congress with military and intelligence backgrounds are urging current service members to ignore the chain of command if they're given unlawful orders.

Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA): Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad…

Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO): … but from right here at home.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ): Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.

Ren. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI): You can refuse illegal orders.

Rep. Chris Deluzio: You must refuse illegal orders.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin: No one has to carry out orders that violate the law…

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA): … or our Constitution.

Amna Nawaz: Now, they didn't specify which orders they consider unlawful, but President Trump has fired back, writing on social media these members of Congress should be — quote — "arrested and put on trial," saying their actions are seditious behavior from traitors that is — quote — "punishable by death."

Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado is a retired Army Ranger and one of the Democrats you just heard from in that video. He joins me now. Congressman, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us.

Rep. Jason Crow: Hi, Amna.

Amna Nawaz: So, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, was asked about all this in the briefing today. I just want to play for you her response.

Question: Just to be clear, does the president want to execute members of Congress?

Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary: No. Let's be clear about what the president is responding to. You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military, to active-duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president's lawful orders.

Amna Nawaz: Congressman, I just want to get your response to the latest from the White House on this.

Rep. Jason Crow: Well, first off, Karoline Leavitt is just lying. We specifically said to unlawful orders — that they don't have to obey unlawful orders, which actually is what the Constitution says, what the Uniform Code of Military Justice says and what we were trained on when we were in uniform as well. This administration wants people to think that simply reminding people of their oath and what the law requires is somehow criminal and should result in treason and hanging, because, secondly, that is what the president said this morning. He called for a treason trial. He called for our arrest. And he called specifically for our execution by hanging.

Amna Nawaz: So, to be specific here, then, Congressman, which unlawful orders are you asking military members to refuse? What did you see that prompted you and others to make this video?

Rep. Jason Crow: The point of this video was not to point to specific orders. It's to prepare our service members, our young men and women, who are going to be put in very difficult positions in the years ahead to understand their oath and their obligation. And there's plenty of reason to be concerned. Donald Trump actually asked whether he could shoot protesters in the leg during the protests at Lafayette Square. Donald Trump has said he's going to go to war with Chicago and send troops into our cities, several of which have already been declared illegal by federal courts. So there's plenty of reason to be concerned. And we want to start a public conversation about what the obligation of our troops really is, in the very same way, I will say, that I did before I deployed my paratrooper platoon to Iraq in 2003, because once you get to the point where they are faced with an instant decision, it's too late if you haven't already had that conversation with them.

Amna Nawaz: Well, Congressman, for military members who are trying to navigate this now, I want to put to you what I heard from the director of The Orders Project, which is a nonprofit that offers legal advice to military service members who are unclear about their orders or worried about them. And they have been seeing an uptake in calls recently. But this person also said that any service member who disobeys an order on the basis that it's unlawful does run the risk that a military judge will disagree. And then they have to face the consequences. Are you saying to military members they should take on that risk?

Rep. Jason Crow: Well, listen, every military member takes on that risk. Service is hard. Being in the military is very hard. So what we want to do is send a message that members of Congress, their fellow veterans, we stand by them, we see them, and we are reminding them of their oath.

Amna Nawaz: Congressman, you have served honorably. We thank you for your service. So did most in that video. But so did retired Four-Star General Barry McCaffrey. And he had this to say in response to your video. He said: "This action by Democrats is unwarranted and dangerous. Focus on your own responsibilities in Congress to oppose military actions you believe are wrong or illegal. Support the judicial system to push back. Don't call on the military to stop Trump." What do you say to that?

Rep. Jason Crow: Well, we're not calling on the military to stop Trump. We're calling on the military to fulfill oaths. And, unfortunately, I think General McCaffrey doesn't understand the moment that we're in, the challenges that this administration is presenting to the troops. And I think he doesn't understand the time and the challenges that leaders face right now.

Amna Nawaz: Do you not trust that the courts will continue to push back or slow or stop Trump policies as they have been doing?

Rep. Jason Crow: They may. They may not. And even when courts issue orders, over a third of the time, this administration disregards lawful orders of the courts, right? They simply disregard court orders time and time again. So my job as a member of Congress is to do everything possible to uphold the Constitution and to defend this country. I don't rely on anybody to help me fulfill my duties, right? This is a project the entire country needs to undertake. Courts have an obligation. Citizens have an obligation. The military has an obligation. Law enforcement has an obligation. And I have mine.

Amna Nawaz: We saw Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer say today he's asked for special protections for Senators Slotkin and Kelly, who appeared with you in that video, after the president's post about seditions. Are you worried about your own safety? Have you seen any increase in threats since the president's post?

Rep. Jason Crow: Yes, we have received threats. And we take those very seriously. I mean, this is actually making the point that the president continues to incite violence in vitriolic rhetoric and partisanship over and over again. And it's very serious stuff, right? People sometimes act on what Donald Trump and others say, right? They certainly did on January 6. So I understand the threats that we face right now. I take those seriously. But I will not be intimidated. But what Donald Trump wants is, he wants to use fear and intimidation to silence dissent, to silence opposition, and to silence speech. And I am not allowed — I'm not going to allow that to happen, because the moment we allow that to happen is the moment we lose our democracy. And I will not allow it to happen. Fear is contagious, but so is courage. And I intend to lead.

Amna Nawaz: Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado, thank you for making the time to speak with us. We appreciate it.

I am so sick of stupid. Donald Chump avoided the Vietnam War. He didn't protest it and he didn't serve in it. He got his daddy to buy his way out of it because he was a coward. Someone else went in his place. Someone else may be dead as a result.

He should never have been president of the United States. But here we are and while Americans are hard working, we have a non-working president. He doesn't learn.

He's a stupid piece of filth who just wants to stay stupid. You have never had a president of the United States make the idiot remarks that Chump did yesterday regarding the members of Congress.

There was nothing controversial about their remarks. Jason got to the most important part. Yes, absolutely the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. But I'm referring to UCMJ.

Some people are just as stupid as Chump.

Lt Ehren Watada. He refused to go to the Iraq War. Do we remember why?

Because it was an illegal war and he would be betraying the service members under him by obeying an illegal order. I agree with him -- you don't have to -- and I agreed with him and we covered him constantly when the US government tried to court-martial him.

In fact, I defended him against Amy Goodman and Norman Solomon. If you've forgotten, Norman had a side piece and she was going to be put on the stand!!!! On the stand!!! So Norman and Amy made it all about how Ehren had to stop defending himself and refusing to testify to 'save' her.

You may remember those two -- Norman and Amy -- were part of the effort to defeat Kamala last November (which meant electing Chump, don't give them a pass). They do that all the time, they destroy what needs to be supported.

His side piece -- who's now at IN THESE TIMES -- was going to have to decide whether to tefisy about her sources or not. The journalistic stance -- even Judith Miller understood this -- is that you don't give up your sources. If it means you spend a week or a month in jail, that's what you do. Unless Norman's crushing on you.

Then what you do is go after a young man fighting for his rights and you start shaming him on DEMCORACY NOW! with b.s. about how he could end the side piece's 'troubles' by taking the stand and then she wouldn't have to do this or do that or wah wah wah.

Some of us on the left are so f**king stupid that we let the same people betray us over and over and make no point to call them out for it.

Ehren didn't listen and good for him.

He took a brave stand based on his convictions.

And -- this is what you need to pay attention to -- his training.

He wasn't creating new guidelines, rules or codes. He was going by the UCMJ.

The no-working Chump didn't serve in the miliary and despite being given the title of commander in chief twice now, has never bothered to even glance at the UCMJ. Our troops follow UCMJ. Ehren was exposed to it through his training.

This was more nonsense from Chump. He's an idiot and people need to be calling him out. This is his second term as president and he's objecting to a very basic thing that is part of our laws and that the US military trains people in.

Propaganda Pig Karoline Levitt declared at the White House yesterday, "Every single order that is given to this United States military by this commander-in-chief and through this command chain of command, through the secretary of war, is lawful."

The porcine ugly needs to shut her uninformed mouth. There is no "secretary of war." The position is -- legally, you idiot -- Secretary of Defense. Congress has not changed it and they're the only ones who legally can. So you don't know the law, you don't know God you hypocrite hiding behind the cross around your neck and you don't know a damn thing.

Do not follow an illegal order? That's actually the law. That.

Not whatever Karoline, snout in air, is snorting about.

I think Donald's confusing sedition with treason and, in the dementia that now possesses him, is somehow projecting his attempt to overthrow the country on January 6th onto other people today. Neither he now Porky Karoline understand military justice -- not just military law but military justice. And they disgrace the country as they babble on about what they wrongly think is the law.

You're just so damn stupid, Donald.

The only thing we can take comfort in is the fact that you went into another rage last night. Yea! He's morbidly obese and eats junk food despite closing in on 80. Each one of these rages takes another few days off his life.

Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes Senator Mark Kelly's response to Donald's lies:

“We are veterans and national security professionals who love this country and swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation,” they wrote in a joint statement posted by Kelly. “What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law. Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders. It is not only the right thing to do, but also our duty.” They signed it with a reminder: “Don’t Give Up the Ship!”

Kelly later responded personally to Trump adviser Stephen Miller’s claim that their comments are part of an “insurrection” and “a general call for rebellion.”

“I got shot at serving our country in combat, and I was there when your boss sent a violent mob to attack the Capitol,” Kelly wrote. “I know the difference between defending our Constitution and an insurrection, even if you don’t.”

At TPM, Nicole Lafond and Emine Yücel report:

The president repeatedly posted on Truth Social, calling for the veteran lawmakers to be arrested and suggesting they should be put to death. He also reposted other Truth Social users who said they should be hanged.

The death threats were clear and explicit.

“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand,” Trump said in the Truth Social post. “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”

“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” he continued.

[. . .]

When asked about Trump’s posts, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) tried to deflect and point the finger at Democrats who said troops can refuse to follow “illegal orders.”

“That was wildly inappropriate,” Johnson said on Thursday. “It is very dangerous. You have leading members of Congress telling troops to disobey orders. I think that’s unprecedented in American history … I know young soldiers, airmen, sailors — they don’t need that kind of nonsense from people in Congress.”

The Dems being targeted by Chump did nothing wrong. They repeated what the US military is trained on. They didn't make that up. It's actually part of the military training.

Now I get it. I know the only brigade Speaker of the closet Mike Johnson ever served in was Avon so the military escapes him. But your stupidity is not an excuse to use inflammatory and misleading speech to put people at risk. When your hate merchant was shot on stage not that long ago, you all wanted to posture about words and weeks later? Here we are with you lying to back up Chump. You're lying and you don't know what you're talking about. Mike Johnson should have pulled his usual nonsense answer out of his ass, "Uhm, golly, I didn't see that on TV. I don't know anything about that. I only knows what the TV tells me. TV and BLUE BOY and LATIN INCHES."

If you can't tell, I'm not in a good mood this morning. Chump isn't our only problem. We started with him but a stupid idiot at RAW STORY has me even more outraged.

I don't like dumb asses and I don't like f**king ass b**ches. Hope I have everyone's attention with that.

What am I talking about?

A garbage post from a garbage fool.

I don't need crap ass from crap asses who don't know s**t. It's amazing, I can remember in early 2005 when these same type of people were telling us to walk on away from Iraq as a topic. There are ways to take back the White House, these 'experts' said, but Iraq wasn't one of them. Really? Because when 2008 rolled around, it was the issue.

But crap asses were bored with the topic. Crap asses who didn't know s**t and who never know s**t.

An outlet has published a really bad article entitled "Trump will finally crash if we hammer him on this -- instead of Epstein." Oh, STFU. I hate the dualities to begin with. I hate the nonsense that it has to be this or that. I hated it when the 'revinventing government' neolibs pushed there either/or nonsense going into the Clinton years and I hated it when the soulless presented it while people were dying in the Iraq War.

Your own crap ass stupidity makes you think you can frighten people into focusing on what you want. So you try to threaten us -- oh, you're going to cost the election mumble mumble.

You don't know s**t and you should stick to coverage of what you can see because you know nothing of prognosis.

We, the American people, moved a mountain via Epstein. Those of us who focused on it and discussed it.

It has fractured MAGA.

Nothing else would have had that impact.

You're a stupid moron who doesn't understand politics.

John Kerry got Swift boated due to idiots like you.

Now we can and should focus on many issues. But idiots like the RAW STORY writer don't know a damn thing. The GOP's technique in elections has repeatedly been to take what we in the Democratic Party feel is a strength and to attack it. So John Kerry served in Vietnam and they rip apart his service.

Donald Chump claimed to be of the people -- he's not -- and couldn't shut up about Epstein and spent his first term pretending he was a savior of children. This exposed him for what he was. This became a real liability for him. It forced some people who had done everything for him to rethink him.

It has exposed him for what he is. There is probably nothing else that could have done that.

Why?

We all have an opinion on the topic. You need something shared like that so that the country can share revulsion. We can bond over it. And you saw it, you saw MAGA people -- including in Congress -- say they couldn't go along with a cover up.

It also wasn't some obscure mathematical model or something we needed to educate the public on. It had built-in appeal.

The idiot writes:

Look, I am not saying everything and anything associated with Epstein isn’t important, but I am saying it can’t become the thing.

I am saying we believe the women, who were victimized by these monsters. I am saying we keep calling for the release of everything to do with Epstein, and we keep asking the woman-abusing Trump one question, and one question only, blah blah blah

Condescending and rude. If you need to read it, click here, for SUBSTACK -- no, it's not the RAW STORY exclusive it's claimed to be at RS.

You don't like the topic. You've never liked it. You don't think it's political and you don't think it's important. Because you're a stupid idiot.

And here's the thing, we owe it to the survivors to continue to press on this issue. I never said it's the only issue. We also zoom in on Chump's war on immigrants, and many other things.. And we can do that and many other things. But here comes a RAW STORY writer -- fresh from decades at STARS AND STRIPES, with idiotic advice.

There's been no justice for the survivors. But before anything's even released, he's wanting Democrats to give up on the issue.

That'll hurt us. If we weren't really vested in it to begin with? That would mean Chump's 'hoax' talk was accurate.

This was the perfect issue to expose Chump on -- it's one that the entire nation cares about. But we picked up the issue because we care about the survivors. It was a great issue to go with politically but it was also a great issue to go with in terms of helping those in need.

We didn't that garbage from RAW STORY. And we don't need marching orders from these idiots either. Go back to your propaganda post at STARS AND STRIPES.

MS NOW last night.

As you can see, they were able to cover a number of different topics throughout their programming.

It doesn't have to be just one story.

We've got two more things. From Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Paramount Skydance made deals with Trump prior to gaining merger approval, now reportedly admin favorites to take over Warner Bros.

Senators warn that botched merger review could raise costs, reduce choices for Americans

“The American people deserve full confidence that the federal government is enforcing these laws independently, transparently, and free from political pressure or financial influence.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in writing to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater, warning that a potential Warner Bros. deal could be tainted by political favoritism and corruption. Warner Bros., in an upcoming formal auction process, is expected to receive bids from major media companies potentially including Paramount Skydance, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and Comcast, raising the specter of a new, massive media giant that drives up costs and reduces choices for American families.

Recent reporting revealed that the Trump administration prefers for Paramount Skydance to win the bid, raising questions of political favoritism. The close relationship between the Trump administration and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison could politicize the merger approval process. In July, the Trump administration approved the merger between Paramount and Skydance, just weeks after Paramount donated $16 million to Trump’s Presidential Library — and after Ellison reportedly agreed to a secret “side deal” to run millions of dollars’ worth of pro-Trump ads.

“The Department of Justice (DOJ) must guarantee that any review of a potential Warner Bros. transaction is conducted transparently, independently, and in accordance with federal antitrust and anti-corruption laws — not politics,” wrote the lawmakers. “Regardless of which bidder is selected, the combination of one of these companies with Warner Bros. would further consolidate the media market — risking higher prices and less variety for consumers.”

The lawmakers demanded that the review of any potential transaction involving Warner Bros. follow the law and avoid the taint of corruption and political favoritism. If the review is botched and a new media giant emerges, the company would have even more market power to raise costs at a time when working- and middle-class Americans are already being squeezed by skyrocketing costs across the board.

To ensure the DOJ review is fact-based and transparent, the senators are pressing for answers on interactions that might bias the transaction review process. In particular, the senators ask whether DOJ officials have discussed any matters related to a potential Warner Bros. transaction with lawyers, lobbyists, or consultants hired by Warner Bros. or any of the reported bidders. They also seek further clarification on whether conversations have been held with non-DOJ lawyers, as well as White House officials or Donald Trump, relating to transaction review at the DOJ, including a potential transaction involving Warner Bros.

“A transparent and lawful merger review process ensures that antitrust and public interest laws function as intended — to protect competitive markets, prevent concentration of power, and safeguard American families from higher prices and fewer choices,” the lawmakers concluded. “The American people deserve full confidence that the federal government is enforcing these laws independently, transparently, and free from political pressure or financial influence.”

Senator Warren has consistently fought back against corrupt corporate media consolidation:

On October 10, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) questioned Skydance’s refusal to address President Donald Trump’s reported secret side deal.
On August 1, Senator Warren released a statement in response to Paramount’s and Skydance’s responses to her letters to each of the companies, describing the responses as “dodgy” and calling for “a full, independent investigation” into whether the companies or their executives engaged in any criminal behavior connected to the approval of the companies’ multi-billion-dollar merger.
On July 24, Senator Warren responded to the Trump administration’s approval of the Paramount-Skydance megamerger, saying “bribery is illegal no matter who is president.”
On July 23, Senator Warren published an op-ed in Variety: “Elizabeth Warren on Colbert 'Late Show' Cancellation: Is the Paramount Trump Payoff a Bribe?”
On July 21, Senators Warren, Sanders (I-Vt.), and Wyden (D-Ore.) pressed David Ellison, CEO of Skydance, about reports of a secret deal between Skydance and President Trump—and how it may be related to Paramount’s recent multi-million-dollar settlement agreement with Trump.
On July 17, Senators Warren and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and lawmakers in Congress, unveiled the Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act to close loopholes that allow presidential libraries to be used as tools for corruption and bribery.
On July 15, Senator Warren released a new report exposing how companies, special interests, and foreign governments may be pledging donations to President Trump’s future Presidential Library as a corrupt tool to secure favorable outcomes from his administration.
On July 2, Senator Warren called for an investigation into Paramount’s settlement with Trump.
On May 19, Senators Warren, Sanders, and Wyden wrote to Shari Redstone, Chair of Paramount, with concerns regarding whether Paramount may be engaging in potentially illegal conduct involving the Trump Administration in exchange for approval of its megamerger with Skydance.

###

And from THE BLACK COMMENTATOR:

The Black Commentator

Issue #1064

is now Online

November 20, 2025

Read issue 1064

Our email address is BlackCommentator@gmail.com

Our voicemail number is 856.823.1739

The Black Commentator | P.O. Box 2635, A weekly publication dedicated to economic justice, social justice and peace.,

The following sites updated:

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Verdicts aren't good for Chumpy Chumpster

It's nothing but bad news for lame duck Donald Chump. The Convicted Felon is just another fat, elderly man. And the courts are making that clear. Lisa Hornung (UPI) reports:

President Donald Trump's lawsuit against CNN for using the phrase "The Big Lie" was rejected by a federal appeals court.

Trump was trying to revive the $475 million suit against the news organization that had been rejected by a lower court. CNN used "The Big Lie" to describe Trump's assertion that the 2020 election was rigged and that Trump had actually won, despite there being no evidence.

Trump's lawyers tried to argue that the phrase was used to align Trump with German dictator Adolph Hitler.

"Trump's argument is unpersuasive," the appellate judges wrote. "First, although he concedes that CNN's use of the term 'Big Lie' is, to some extent, ambiguous, he assumes that it is unambiguous enough to constitute a statement of fact. This assumption is untenable."

Trump's legal team responded in a statement: "There is no doubt that Fake News CNN defamed President Trump and all of the tens of millions of Americans who have rightly stated that the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged and stolen by Crooked Joe Biden and his handlers. President Trump will continue to hold the mainstream media accountable and will pursue this case against CNN to its just and deserved conclusion."

Oh, shut up, you crooks. Chump tried to overthrow a legal election. He should be in prison. Merrick Garland is an embarrassment to our country. Chump thought lying and tricking his way into the White House would mean he had the power to rewrite history. No, Chump. And all your garbage will leave when you leave the White House. Does that make you mad? Good. Then rage, fat man, rage hard and put yourself into the early grave you belong. Sarah Rumpf (MEDIAITE) updates with the outcome in the case:

A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN, specifically noting that the network’s use of the phrase “Big Lie” to describe Trump was not a false statement of fact.

The president had sued CNN in 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, seeking $475 million in punitive damages, complaining about the network’s use of the term “Big Lie” to describe Trump’s unfounded claims about the 2020 election being stolen and other comments aired on CNN.

Has there ever been a bigger loser than Chump?

Robert Alexander (NEWSWEEK) reports the more legal troubles for Convicted Felon Donald Chump:

A federal appeals court on Tuesday appeared doubtful of President Donald Trump’s attempt to reinstate an anti-racketeering lawsuit that alleged a broad conspiracy by Hillary Rodham Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, and others to link his 2016 presidential campaign to Russia.

[. . .]

A federal appeals court’s skeptical reception of Donald Trump’s effort to revive his dismissed racketeering lawsuit—and its review of nearly $1 million in sanctions against him and former attorney Alina Habba—underscores a broader fight over the limits of using the judiciary to advance political grievances.

The ruling will decide whether Trump owes substantial penalties and clarify how far public figures can advance political claims in federal court, a question with wider consequences for the judiciary and for Trump’s other legal fights.

Alina Habba is, of course, the idiot. Chump loves him some idiots. In this case, like attracts like, apparently. Lindsey Halligan is an idiot. So what does that make Chump. He hired the idiot to be one of his lawyers -- personal lawyers. More recently, he hired to be a public servant paid by us. She can't be that. She's apparently too stupid. David Kurtz (TPM) reports:

A quick update on the big coverup in the Letitia James case that Morning Memo featured last week:

In a new filing Monday, James lawyers asked the judge in the case to order the Justice Department to produce the documents reportedly turned over to prosecutors by former FHFA acting Inspector General Joe Allen.

More intriguingly, James’ attorneys say the discovery they’ve already received from the government contains a gap in the Bates-stamp sequence that suggests “over 100 pages of discovery likely turned over by the former FHFA Acting Inspector General has not been produced.”

Allen and about a dozen officials within Fannie Mae’s ethics and internal investigations unit were fired after looking into complaints about FHFA director Bill Pulte’s access to the personal mortgage records of prominent Democrats, including James. Before he was ousted, Allen turned over to U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s office some of what he had unearthed that, according to news reports, he felt legally obligated to provide, suggesting it may have been exculpatory evidence favorable to James.

It’s not clear what makes James’ attorney suspect that the gap represents the IG’s documents, but they are requesting a court order for Halligan to provide them with a specific set of documents that have a common Bates stamp signature.

And Frank Yemi (THE INQUISITR) adds:

A new court filing from New York Attorney General Letitia James’s legal team has upended the narrative around the mortgage-fraud case against her, revealing that senior fraud investigators inside Fannie Mae did not believe there was clear evidence she had committed any crime. The disclosure landed Monday and paints a far more complicated picture of a case that has been closely tied to the political orbit surrounding President Donald Trump.

James, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with bank fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution. Prosecutors allege she used a Virginia home as an investment property despite certifying it as a secondary residence to secure better mortgage terms. Her lawyers now say the internal communications they’ve obtained show that even the experts tasked with evaluating such cases were unsure at best, and unconvinced at worst, that her actions amounted to fraud.

According to the filing, Sean Soward, Fannie Mae’s director of mortgage fraud investigations, wrote in June to colleague Jennifer Horne, the company’s vice president of financial crimes, that the evidence in the case was “certainly not clear and convincing.” For James’s team, the comment speaks volumes. If the people whose job it is to assess mortgage fraud saw major gaps, they argue, the decision to pursue charges must have come from somewhere else.

Let me give a verdict: Chump and his fat, old ass are dragging the country down. He's having a tantrum tonight -- we'll probably hear tomorrow about a plethora of social media posts he did between now and sunrise. And I say, "Throw your tantrum, fat baby. Rage, rage, get that blood pressure up. Bring that stroke on, fatty, bring it on."

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Wednesday, November 19, 2025. Tuesday was a historic day in the House and in the Senate.

Late yesterday afternoon, Katy Stech Ferek, Siobhan Hughes and Anvee Bhutani (WALL STREET JOURNAL) reported:

The House passed legislation Tuesday mandating the disclosures of a trove of government files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a milestone in a long-running fight that divided the Republican Party and President Trump’s MAGA movement.

The 427-1 vote came after a band of Republicans bucked party leaders and joined with Democrats to force the matter over the opposition of GOP leadership. The one lawmaker to vote against the measure was Rep. Clay Higgins (R., La.).

Here for the run down of the vote at THE NEW YORK TIMES. Clay Higgins, Republican known to Lake Charles residents as "Miss Higgins," voted against the measure. He mumbled something about three months ago one of his nuts climbed up his sack and it still hasn't descended back to normal. Five members of the House didn't vote -- 3 Dems, 2 Republicans -- presumably, they were attempting to help Miss Higgins find his missing nut. Some jokers insisted they'd seen in Mike Johnson's office or maybe his mouth but, to date, the testicle has not been discovered.

THE WSJ reporters also note:

Trump, in comments to reporters Tuesday, said he has “nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert, and I guess I turned out to be right.”

Really because an e-mail suggests Chump saw him years later -- Thanksgiving 2017. Claire Healy and Ana Claudia Chacin (MIAMI HERALD) note:

When Manhattan modeling management executive Faith Kates wrote to Epstein, asking where he was having Thanksgiving dinner in 2017, he answered “eva” – apparently referring to Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Eva Andersson-Dubin. Kates asked “who else is down there?” “david fizel. hanson. trump,” Epstein responds. Trump was in West Palm Beach for Thanksgiving and hosted a large public dinner at Mar-a-Lago. There is no indication that they met for Thanksgiving that year.

THE NEW REPUBLIC's Edith Olmsted noticed the e-mail as well:

Newly released emails suggest that President Donald Trump may have spent his first Thanksgiving in office accompanied by none other than Jeffrey Epstein.

Buried in a batch of thousands of documents released Wednesday by the GOP-led House Committee on Oversight and Reform, one email chain between Epstein and someone called “Faith Kates,” likely referring to the founder of NEXT Model Management, suggested that the convicted sex offender was still hanging out with Trump long after the president claims he cut ties.

[. . .]

That wasn’t the only message that suggested Trump and Epstein were still spending time together. In another email chain from December 2017, a guest of Epstein’s claimed they didn’t want to risk running into Trump at Epstein’s Paris apartment. In other emails sent just days after the presidential election, Epstein claimed he was headed for New York as “Trump gives many new things to do,” and later said he was visiting Trump Tower.

The president has long claimed that his friendship with Epstein ended before his Palm Beach neighbor was indicted for soliciting prostitution in 2006. But clearly, the two remained linked long afterward.

In an attempt to forestall the vote, Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson sent the House home for weeks on an extended vacation and refused to swear in Adelita Grijalva for over fifty days. Yet today? Johnson voted for the measure. David Moye (HUFFINGTON POST) notes a reaction to that:

On Tuesday, the Louisiana Republican announced he would vote to release Department of Justice files related to the late sex offender.

Considering the decision came two days after he accused the Democrats of only using the scandal to bring down President Donald Trump, some people wondered the reason behind Johnson’s change of heart. The speaker previously shut down the House early and held off on swearing in a new member during the government shutdown as part of his effort to delay a vote.

Rep. Eric Swalwell had a theory that he offered on social media that was pretty vicious.

“Daddy gave you permission??” Swalwell asked.

Befor the vote on Tuesday, Epstein survivor and House Reps Ro Khanna (Democrat), Thomas Massie (Republican) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican) held a press briefing.

US House Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene: I was called a traitor by a man that I fought for five, no, actually, six years, and I gave him my loyalty for free, I won my first election without his endorsement beating eight men in a primary, and I've never owed him anything, but I fought for him, for the policies and for America first, and he called me a traitor for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition. Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot is an American that serves the United States of America, and Americans like the women standing behind me. The only thing that will speak to the powerful, courageous women behind me is when action is actually taken to release these files and the American people won’t tolerate any other bulls**t.

After fighting and attacking and even getting Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson to shutdown the House for a little over two months, Sunday night found Chump suddenly doing a turn around on the Epstein files. The snapshots this week have featured a number of thoughts on that from different people. Today, let's note US House Rep Ro Khanna who addressed this issue and many more with NYT's David Leonhardt in a recent podcast for the paper of record:

Leonhardt: Donald Trump reversed course on social media, where he makes many of his big announcements, on Sunday night. Where were you when you found out that he was reversing himself?

Khanna: As I was about to get to bed, my phone starts to blow up. Someone says: Donald Trump endorsed your bill. And I said: What do you mean? Because Thomas Massie and I, we’ve been working all weekend texting Republicans we knew, trying to get a veto-proof vote in the House.

Leonhardt: Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican, with whom you’ve been working very closely.

Khanna: He has been an instrumental partner. So the underlying bill is my bill, but Thomas Massie has the discharge petition that would get the bill to a vote in the House. But Donald Trump saw that he was going to lose. I mean, this is the first time it has happened that probably almost a hundred Republicans would’ve voted for a Democratic bill, for the Khanna Epstein Files Transparency Act. And he was having Rasmussen, the Republican pollster, People’s Pundit, a Republican pollster, say: What are you doing, Donald Trump? You’ve forgotten the forgotten Americans you campaigned against. So I think he bowed to reality and now is endorsing our bill.

Leonhardt: And so just to walk people through what happened for those who haven’t been following this as closely as you have: You spent months scraping to get just enough Republicans to get their signatures on this petition that then forced the House leadership to hold a vote on a bill. The House leadership didn’t want to hold a vote on the bill. How many Republicans did you ultimately get to sign that petition?

Khanna: We got four.

Leonhardt: Four — all Democrats and four Republicans.

Khanna: All Democrats, four Republicans. I’ve been in Congress nine years. It was the most herculean effort to get that discharge petition through for a few reasons. You had a full-court press here by the White House and the speaker to make this not possible. You had the speaker adjourn Congress early in the summer, if you remember, trying to get the whole issue to go away. At the same time, you had the White House launch the most intense pressure campaign on Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert, to get them to remove their names from this petition.

Leonhardt: And they are the three along with Massie. Those are the only four Republicans.

Khanna: They’re the only four. So with Massie, they came out right away: “We’re going to primary you. The president’s team is going to run the campaign against you.” Why? Yes, they didn’t like what Massie was doing, but they were also sending a signal to every other Republican in the caucus to not defy Donald Trump.

And Donald Trump then un-endorses Marjorie Taylor Greene. I mean, can you imagine this? He is treating Ghislaine Maxwell better than he is treating Marjorie Taylor Greene these days. Once Trump starts to un-endorse Marjorie Taylor Greene, we think, OK, people are going to have understandably cold feet. I mean, do you really want Donald Trump endorsing a primary challenger against you over this vote? And yet, Massie’s thought — and from the people I was talking to — that we thought that some Republicans would still defy him. And obviously that’s what Donald Trump calculated. Ultimately, it was a surrender to justice. But it shows that you can get Donald Trump to come to your side as opposed to having to cave to his side.

Things moved quickly yesterday. At one point in the afternoon, NYT posted Annie Karni's "House Is Expected to Vote on Tuesday to Release Epstein Files."

It was.

It did.

The surprise was what happened next.

Jordain Carney, Hailey Fuchs and Meredith Lee Hill (POLITICO) explain:

The Senate moved swiftly to approve legislation Tuesday forcing the Justice Department to release more information about the case it built against the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — acting hours after an overwhelming House vote to send the bill to the desk of President Donald Trump, who spent months trying to kill it.

The Senate acted by unanimous consent, which requires signoff from every senator but does not require them to take a roll call vote. Earlier in the day, the House passed the bill on a 427-1 vote.

Ben covers the developments this morning at MEIDASTOUCH NEWS.

And let's note some other coverage in the last 24 hours.

You can't talk Epstein without talking his partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell. Erik Ortiz (NBC NEWS) reports:

A “whistleblower” who came forward to House Democrats alleging convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell received preferential treatment at a federal prison camp in Texas says she was not motivated by politics.

Instead, “this was about common human decency and doing what’s right for all inmates,” Noella Turnage, a nurse who worked at Federal Prison Camp Bryan since 2019 until she was fired last week, told NBC News on Monday.

She added that when even one inmate is wrongly retaliated against, “and influence gets another one protected, somebody had to say something.”

Maxwell’s time at FPC Bryan, an all-women’s minimum-security facility, has come under scrutiny since her transfer there in early August from a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida. Her relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has become a focal point as Democrats and some Republicans renew their push to compel the Justice Department to make all investigative files surrounding Epstein’s case public.

Turnage said she was not driven by public outrage surrounding Epstein, Maxwell or any other public figures, but acted because she felt “failed by the institution” when colleagues and others have spoken out about alleged leadership misconduct and retaliation.

Meanwhile Brian Bennett (TIME) observes:

Maxwell is serving 20 years in prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors over the course of a decade. Blanche interviewed Maxwell in Tallahassee, Fl., on July 24 and 25. Days after the interview, Maxwell was transferred from a low-security federal prison in Florida to an all-women minimum-security prison northeast of Houston called Federal Prison Camp Bryan. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

I'd hoped to get some Justice Dept news in here today. There's not room. We will move over to the economy, however. Yes, Donald Cump continues to destroy the economy. Zoe Schneeweiss (BLOOMBERG NEWS) reports:

Initial applications for US jobless benefits totaled 232,000 in the week ended Oct. 18, according to the Labor Department website showing historical data for claims.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, came in at 1.957 million, up slightly from 1.947 million in the prior week. For initial claims, weekly data for the previous three weeks weren’t made available.

The department did not release its weekly jobless claims report during the government shutdown, which ended last week, but it has published data on its website through other channels.

Unadjusted state-level claims data were available for download throughout the shutdown. Economists have used those state figures along with pre-released seasonal adjustment factors to estimate weekly claims.

The seasonally-adjusted initial claims figure was accessed through an online database, and the recently posted figure is roughly in line with prior estimates.

This as MONEY TALK NEWS notes, "American families will pay an average of $2,700 more annually due to President Trump's new tariff policies. Research shows consumers have different tolerance levels for price increases depending on the product category and how businesses explain the hikes." And Trevor Jennewine (THE MOTLEY FOOL) explains:

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) stumbled out of the gate in November, historically the strongest month of the year for the U.S. stock market. The index has declined 1.5% month to date as investors have received bad news about the economy and become increasingly concerned by elevated valuations, particularly where artificial intelligence stocks are concerned.

Indeed, the S&P 500 recently flashed a warning signal seen just once in the last 25 years. Here's what you should know.

President Trump has argued tariffs are necessary to bring manufacturing activity back to the U.S. However, the most recent ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) -- which measures the health of the manufacturing sector by tracking orders, production, employment, deliveries, and inventory -- shows that manufacturing activity has fallen in eight consecutive months.

Of course, all bad economic news isn't sad. J oe Light (BARRON'S) reports:

Trump Media & Technology Group, the social media and crypto company, is trading at all-time lows as Bitcoin and other tokens keep plunging.

The stock, known by its ticker DJT, was down 0.9% at $10.76 in afternoon trading Tuesday. Earlier, it hit an intraday low of $10.32—the lowest price since DJT’s predecessor company announced in October 2021 it had entered a merger agreement to take Trump’s social networking company public.

President Donald Trump indirectly owns nearly 115 million shares of DJT that are held in a revocable trust in the name of son Don Jr. The son sits on the Trump Media’s board. The holdings make the Trump family the company’s largest shareholder.

DJT stock has fallen nearly 70% this year and 34.6% in the past month.

The little con artist can afford to pay E Jean Carroll because he doesn't have the cash on hand and probably never will. He wanted to make a little money on bonds but Ja'han Jones (MS NOW) explains that required breaking rules and ethical guidelines:

Trump — who waged a yearslong conspiracy-driven campaign against former President Joe Biden, accusing him of using the presidency to enrich himself and his family — claimed prior to his inauguration that his business ventures would be controlled by his children when he returned to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Saturday. The administration has said before that Trump has continued to file mandatory disclosures about his investments but that neither he nor his family has a role in running the portfolio, which is managed by a third-party financial institution.

But the suggestion that the president is staying out of his family’s business affairs has been contradicted by Trump Organization statements to foreign governments and by Eric Trump himself.

The timeline for these investments (late August into early October) shows Trump, through his private investments, positioned to profit from decisions in his role as president, all while his administration was contributing to unemployment through government layoffs and federal cuts and fueling an affordability crisis via the president’s ongoing tariffs.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

McMahon previously admitted to Warren that she did not have the authority to dismantle the Department of Education

Washington, D.C. - Today, in reaction to news that Secretary McMahon plans to further dismantle the Department of Education by moving multiple parts of the agency to other federal departments, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement:

“The Trump administration is waging an illegal assault on public school kids. Instead of working to lower costs for Americans, the Trump administration is hellbent on punishing underserved students.

“Linda McMahon is a liar who knows she doesn’t have the power to single-handedly dismantle the Department of Education – she admitted that to me herself. Only Congress has the authority to close the Education Department, and I will not let that happen on my watch.”

Senator Warren has led the fight to make our higher education system more affordable, cancel student loan debt, and hold student loan servicers accountable for incompetence and malfeasance. She launched the Save Our Schools campaign in a coordinated effort to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education:

On November 17, 2025, Senator Warren led over 40 of her colleagues in a letter urging Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to immediately end any plans to sell or transfer the federal student loan portfolio to the private market.
On November 10, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in a letter urging the Trump administration to use the IRS’s existing legal authorities to stop the looming “tax bomb” facing borrowers who obtain income-driven repayment (IDR) discharges of their student loan debt.
On October 15, 2025, Senator Warren and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led 70 members of Congress in a letter calling on the Trump administration to address the ongoing and unprecedented wave of student loan delinquencies and defaults, which threatens the financial stability of millions of people and could have disastrous effects on the American economy.
On September 19, 2025, following a push by Senator Warren and nine other senators, the Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education agreed to open an investigation into DOGE’s infiltration of internal systems, including the scope of its access to sensitive student loan borrower information and its impact on borrowers’ rights and privacy.
On August 26, 2025, Senator Warren led colleagues in sending a follow-up letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon condemning the Department of Education for deliberately hiding the “Submit a Complaint” button on the Office of Federal Student Aid’s website, firing employees responsible for providing customer service to borrowers and families and misleading Congress about the scope of these firings.
On August 7, 2025, Senator Warren publicly released Secretary of Education Linda McMahon’s response to the senator’s 60+ questions and pressed for additional information. Senator Warren announced that she would refer certain matters where the Department has proved uncooperative to the Government Accountability Office and the Education Department’s Inspector General.
On August 4, 2025, Senator Warren led eight Senators in pressing major private student loan lenders on their plans to serve the incoming surge of borrowers who will be pushed to the industry because of Republicans’ recently passed “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
On July 17, 2025, Senator Warren released a new 23-page report, “Education At Risk: Frontline Impacts of Trump’s War on Students,” highlighting warnings from 11 major national education and civil rights organizations on the impact of the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education (ED), slashing support to millions of American students, primary and secondary school teachers, administrators, parents, and student loan borrowers.
On July 15, 2025, Senators Warren and Sanders, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, urging her to reverse the interest hike on student loan borrowers in the SAVE forbearance.
On July 14, 2025, Senator Warren joined a letter to the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, and Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, demanding that the Department of Education stop blocking nearly $7 billion in funds for K-12 schools, including for afterschool programs.
On July 3, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in submitting an amicus brief for NAACP v. US, arguing to the United States District Court District of Maryland that President Trump’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education violate separation of powers and lack constitutional authority.
On June 10, 2025, Senator Warren met with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and delivered over 1,000 letters to McMahon that the senator had received from people in all 50 states who were worried about the Secretary’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.
On June 9, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in pushing the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Education to open an investigation into new information obtained by her office, revealing that DOGE may have gained access to two FSA internal systems, in addition to sensitive borrower data.
On May 20, 2025, Senator Warren and 27 other senators pushed for full funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid.
On May 14, 2025, Senator Warren led a Senate forum entitled “Stealing the American Dream: How Trump and Republicans Are Raising Education Costs for Families,” highlighting the consequences of Secretary Linda McMahon’s reckless dismantling of the Department of Education and President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” for working- and middle-class students and borrowers.
On May 13, 2025, Senator Warren agreed to meet with Education Secretary Linda McMahon and promised to bring questions and stories from Americans across the country to highlight how the Trump administration’s attacks on education are hurting American families.
On May 6, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren highlighted the consequences of President Trump and Secretary Linda McMahon’s reckless dismantling of the Department of Education for American families in a Senate forum.
On April 24, 2025, Senator Warren launched a new investigation into the harms of President Trump’s attacks on the Department of Education, seeking information on the impact of the Trump administration’s actions from the members of twelve leading organizations representing schools, parents, teachers, students, borrowers, and researchers.
On April 10, 2025, following a request led by Senator Warren, the Department of Education’s Acting Inspector General agreed to open an investigation into the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.
On April 2, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mazie Hirono, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon regarding the Department of Government Efficiency’s proposed plan to replace the Department of Education’s federal student aid call centers with generative artificial intelligence chatbots.