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November 13, 2025
House Republicans Scramble as Epstein Files Petition Hits Magic Number -- Several Announce They're Now Voting in Favor
(Mediaite) CNN’s Manu Raju reported on CNN Wednesday that more Republicans are joining the move to release the Epstein files now that the discharge petition has enough signatures to force a full House vote. Raju reported that Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Eli Crane (R-AZ) are now “yes votes” on the bill to release the files, but cautioned that it is still extremely unlikely that the bill ever becomes law. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) also said on MSNBC on Wednesday that he would vote to release the Epstein files
Go to discussionTrump Organization requested record number of foreign workers in 2025
(The Hill) The Trump Organization requested 184 foreign workers to work across various company properties, a record number that has increased over the years. The company sought to hire workers through H-2A and H-2B visas for temporary positions at Mar-a-Lago, two golf clubs and at Trump Vineyard Estates in Charlottesville, Va., according to data from the Department of Labor. Over the course of Trump’s first term and the first nine months of his second term, the Trump Organization’s visa requests increased from 121 in 2021 to 184 in 2025, according to Forbes.
Go to discussionAmericans Grow Increasingly Unhappy with Trump
(Poltiical Wire) A new AP-NORC poll shows just 33% of adults approve of the way President Trump is managing the government, down from 42% in March.
Go to discussionBallroom Blitz: Union Pacific donates to White House ballroom while proposing massive merger
(Flatwater Free Press) Union Pacific Railroad is the lone Nebraska-based company publicly known to have donated to the new White House ballroom championed by President Donald Trump. It’s also a Nebraska-based company that will soon need a federal regulator to approve a massive merger that, if green-lit, would give the company control of more than 40% of rail freight traffic in the United States. Union Pacific is far from the only White House ballroom donor that may have reason to curry presidential favor. Many of the publicly known donors are massive companies or billionaires.
Go to discussionDonald Trump Already Backtracking on Key Dem Shutdown Concession
(Daily Beast) The deal struck with the Democrats included extending government funding through January 30 next year, as well as stopping the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers and guaranteeing back pay for staff who worked through the shutdown. It also stated that thousands of federal staff terminated during the shutdown would get their jobs back. In a new interview conducted on Wednesday before the House approved the bill, a key GOP player admitted the job cuts will not be reversed.
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Texas Democrats have the last laugh over MAGA gerrymandering
(Salon) In case anyone wonders if there’s any point in taking a stand only to be forced to capitulate down the road, I would invite you to consider an episode from last summer. When Republican members of the Texas legislature passed a bill to redraw the state’s congressional map — and give the GOP five additional seats in the House of Representatives — at the behest of President Donald Trump, Democratic lawmakers fled the state to deny the GOP a quorum and delay the vote. Although the Texas Democrats didn’t succeed in stopping the Republicans, their doomed strategy achieved something just as important: It brought national attention to the Machiavellian tactics the GOP was employing to maintain its congressional majority in 2026. And that has resulted in a state-by-state battle across the country that just may end up backfiring on the Republicans.
Go to discussionStudent loan warning issued over potential tax of up to $10,000
(Newsweek) U.S. senators have issued a warning for student loan borrowers, as tax bills of up to $10,000 may hit in 2026. Beginning January 1, student loan debt forgiveness could carry a high tax liability. While student debt forgiveness was exempt from federal income tax since the passage of the American Rescue Plan in 2021, that provision will expire at the end of 2025.
Go to discussionTrump administration declares Consumer Financial Protection Bureau funding illegal
(Politico) The Trump administration has formally determined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s current funding mechanism is unlawful, a move that puts the agency on track to close in the coming months when its existing cash runs out. The decision, disclosed in a court filing late Monday, marks the administration’s most direct effort yet to dismantle the consumer watchdog and sets up a new front in the ongoing legal battle over its future. The administration said it now considers the CFPB legally barred from seeking additional money from the Federal Reserve, which is the agency’s typical source of funding.
Go to discussion'Overwhelmed' Trump-appointed judge disbarred after quitting amid misconduct scandal, will have to take classes
(Law & Crime) An Alaska attorney appointed by President Donald Trump to a lifetime federal judgeship in 2020, who quit his job rather than facing possible impeachment amid a sexual harassment and misconduct scandal, has been stripped of his law license and ordered to take ethics classes as a condition for possible reinstatement down the road. The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday adopted the "findings and conclusions of the Disciplinary Board" and ordered Joshua Kindred disbarred from practicing law "effective immediately."
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