Democratic Underground: Forums for U.S. Liberals and Democrats

Senate GOP blocks push for legal action over Epstein law

(Roll Call) Senate Republican leadership blocked a Democrat-backed measure Thursday that would direct the chamber to take legal action over the Justice Department’s much-criticized handling of the Jeffrey Epstein documents. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, on the floor, criticized the Trump administration’s response to the law Congress passed last year that required the release of documents tied to the deceased sex offender. The New York Democrat said millions of pages of documents that have not been released could contain financial records, letters, emails and the names of conspirators.

RandySF

House Republicans prepare full-court press for voting restrictions

(Politico) The House is set to vote next week on a once-obscure elections bill that has now become a household name among hard-right activists and a major rallying point for an otherwise divided GOP. The SAVE America Act, aimed at tightening voter registration standards, has a difficult path to enactment despite a no-holds-barred pressure campaign from the likes of President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk. But amid growing fears that their party is not doing enough to address Americans’ key concerns — rising prices chief among them — House GOP leaders and key senators have chosen to put the election security push at the center of their agenda.

babylonsister

Democrats Smell Blood in the Water

(Political Wire) Rachel Bade: “If it wasn’t clear before, it’s crystal clear now: Democrats are feeling their power when it comes to ICE enforcement and the looming Department of Homeland Security funding deadline. Republicans, meanwhile, face a no-win situation: Hold the line and eat the blowback from a shutdown — or cave and torch their own base. Consider this: In the past 48 hours, President Donald Trump has extended an olive branch to the left on immigration enforcement ... But instead of returning the good-faith gesture, Democrats have hardened their position.”

sheshe2

Trump posts images of Michelle and Barack Obama as monkeys on Truth Social

(Mueller She Wrote) "Trump has posted on Truth Social about 65 times in the last 90 minutes, including a video he posted at 8:44 PM PT describing election fraud lies that shows racist AI images of Michelle and Barack Obama as monkeys at the end. I’ve confirmed this is real and watched it myself."

KS Toronado

Friday's Condensed News Cartoons

question everything

Twin Cities tow truck driver returns abandoned vehicles to families after ICE arrests

(CBS News) Juan Leon had only been running his tow truck business, Leo's Towing, for a few months when he noticed a pattern that kept repeating itself. Cars were being left behind across the Twin Cities metro area – parked on streets, in parking lots, sometimes for days at a time. The owners were gone, and in many cases, they had been arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Seeing there was a need for someone to help out, help clear the streets and get the people back their vehicles. So we stepped up and started doing it," Leon said.

BumRushDaShow

Ohio's GOP governor: Ending TPS for Haitians would be 'blow to the economy'

(The Hill) Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) defended Haitians under temporary protected status (TPS) who reside in his state, three days after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from revoking such status from hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Caribbean country. “If they lose temporary protected status and they no longer can work and the companies can’t employ them, that’s a blow to the economy, that’s a blow to the state,” DeWine told host Dana Bash Thursday on CNN’s “Inside Politics.”

RandySF

Virginia Democrats release long-awaited 10-1 congressional map

(Virginia Mercury) After weeks of buildup and a missed self-imposed Jan. 30 deadline, Virginia Democrats on Thursday evening finally released their long-awaited revised congressional map, proposing an aggressive 10–1 configuration that would tilt 10 of the state’s 11 U.S. House districts toward their party. The proposed congressional map leaves several of Virginia’s largest districts visually intact while concentrating most of its changes in Northern and central Virginia.

BumRushDaShow

Florida push for mid-decade redistricting draws its first lawsuit

(Politico) Florida’s bid to reshape its congressional map — which still hasn’t happened yet — drew its first lawsuit Thursday with the help of a group aligned with Democrats. Two Floridians, with backing from the National Redistricting Foundation, filed a lawsuit Thursday that contends Gov. Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Cord Byrd lacked the legal authority to alter election laws after the governor called an April special session on mid-decade redistricting.

RandySF

IN-01: Indiana House GOP candidate withdraws from race, citing state's failure to redistrict

(The Hill) An Indiana Republican running for a competitive House seat announced Thursday that she would be withdrawing from the race, citing the competitive nature of the district and the state’s failure to redistrict ahead of November. “Indiana’s legislature sadly chose not to redistrict Indiana congressional map to counter Democrats’ egregious gerrymandering and their counting of illegal immigrants in the census,” former Indiana Public Safety Secretary Jennifer-Ruth Green said in a statement one day before the state’s filing deadline.

Expand Featured Stories

Issue Forums

Alliance Forums

Region Forums

Latest Breaking News

Russian general Vladimir Alekseyev in critical condition after Moscow shooting

10 min ago - A top Russian military official who plays a major role in the country’s intelligence services has been taken to hospital after being shot in Moscow, state media has reported. Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev was shot several times on the stairwell of h ... (The Guardian)

Accused militant is taken into custody in the deadly 2012 Benghazi attack, Justice Department says

16 min ago - WASHINGTON (AP) — A man described as a key participant in the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, has been taken into custody and will be prosecuted in connection with a rampage that killed four Americans and became a div ... (AP)

Trump administration proposes citizenship question in test for 2030 census

22 min ago - February 6, 2026 12:29pm EST A field test for the 2030 Census may contain a question about citizenship under a proposed action by the Trump administration. The field test was created to give the Census Bureau the opportunity to gain experience in ho ... (WNYW-TV New York, NY)

Minnesota wants expedited discovery to 'bolster the record' in lawsuit against ICE due to 'urgency' of crackdown

1 hr ago - Feb 6th, 2026, 8:00 am Minnesota would like to speed up discovery in its lawsuit over the Trump administration's deeply unpopular immigration crackdown in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, according to a Thursday federal court filing. In a 16-page memorandu ... (Law & Crime)

Newly revealed emails undermine RFK Jr testimony about 2019 Samoa trip ahead of measles outbreak

1 hr ago - "Over two days of questioning during his Senate confirmation hearings last year, Robert F Kennedy Jr repeated the same answer. He said the closely scrutinized trip he took to Samoa in 2019, which came ahead of a devastating measles outbreak, had ... (The Guardian)

Sonny Jurgensen, one of Washington's greatest football players, dies at 91

1 hr ago - Sonny Jurgensen, one of Washington's greatest football players, dies at 91 In a Hall of Fame career, the Redskins quarterback was known as one the NFL's best pure passers. He later spent years as a broadcaster. February 6, 2026 at 10:48 a.m. EST Toda ... (Washington Post)

Trump takes down racist Truth Social post showing Obamas as apes after blowback

2 hrs ago - Published Fri, Feb 6 2026 9:28 AM EST Updated 11 Min Ago The Truth Social account of President Donald Trump on Friday morning removed a racist image showing former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama portrayed as apes after ou ... (CNBC)

Actor Timothy Busfield indicted on child sex abuse charges by New Mexico grand jury

2 hrs ago - A grand jury in New Mexico indicted actor Timothy Busfield on child sex abuse charges, officials said Friday. Busfield was indicted on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, the Bernalillo County District Attorney's office said in a press ... (NBC news)

With $48M in philanthropic backing, a division of USAID relaunches as nonprofit

3 hrs ago - Friday 06 February 2026 08:07 EST A division of the U.S. Agency for International Development eliminated by Trump administration cuts last year was reborn Thursday as an independent nonprofit, allowing its international work to continue in a new form ... (The Independent)

Republican Candidate Drops Out After Redistricting Blocked: 'Difficult Seat'

4 hrs ago - Published Feb 06, 2026 at 03:56 AM EST updated Feb 06, 2026 at 03:57 AM EST A Republican congressional candidate in Indiana has dropped out of the race, amid what she described as “egregious gerrymandering,” describing the seat she had hope ... (Newsweek)

Rape allegation against ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley was raised in US Epstein investigation

5 hrs ago - Thu 5 Feb 2026 13.29 EST Last modified on Fri 6 Feb 2026 03.25 EST US prosecutors reviewed allegations of rape and bodily harm against the former Barclays boss and former JP Morgan banker Jes Staley, according to newly unsealed files linked to the ch ... (The Guardian)

Man pardoned in U.S. Capitol riot pleads guilty to threatening Hakeem Jeffries

5 hrs ago - February 5, 2026, 10:01 PM CLINTON, N.Y. -- A New York man accused of threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pleaded guilty Thursday, a year after President Donald Trump pardoned him for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. ... (ABC News/AP)

'An impossibility': Negotiations to reform ICE sputter as shutdown looms for DHS

6 hrs ago - Feb. 5, 2026, 8:01 PM EST WASHINGTON — Congress is struggling to make progress in negotiations to avoid a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security next week, leaving the two parties squabbling as the House and the Senate left town for a l ... (NBC News)

Ohio's GOP governor: Ending TPS for Haitians would be 'blow to the economy'

7 hrs ago - 12h Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) defended Haitians under temporary protected status (TPS) who reside in his state, three days after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from revoking such status from hundreds of thousands of migrants from th ... (msn/The Hill)

Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn jumps into Maryland House race:Tell Donald Trump I'm coming back to the Capitol

7 hrs ago - February 5, 2026, 7:24 PM Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn is running for Congress in Maryland's 5th Congressional District. Dunn rose to national prominence for his testimony in congressional hearings about defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. ... (ABC News)

LaMonte McLemore, Founding Member Of The 5th Dimension, Dies At 90

7 hrs ago - Feb 5, 2026, 06:57 PM EST Singer LaMonte McLemore, a founding member of vocal group The 5th Dimension, whose smooth pop and soul sounds with a touch of psychedelia brought them big hits in the 1960s and '70s, has died. He was 90. McLemore died Tuesd ... (Huff Post/AP)

"Tsunami" of immigration detention cases strains U.S. Attorney's offices across America

8 hrs ago - Updated on: February 5, 2026 / 6:27 PM EST As immigration sweeps and detentions have expanded in Minnesota and around the country, the work of justifying those detentions is overwhelming federal prosecutors, who are being forced to sideline a range o ... (CBS News)

Trump cuts funds for EVs, health in blue states

8 hrs ago - 02/05/26 6:02 PM ET The Trump administration is rescinding a total of $1.5 billion in health and transportation funds from multiple blue states, a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) confirmed Thursday. The OMB dire ... (The Hill)

Florida push for mid-decade redistricting draws its first lawsuit

9 hrs ago - 02/05/2026 05:36 PM EST TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida’s bid to reshape its congressional map — which still hasn’t happened yet — drew its first lawsuit Thursday with the help of a group aligned with Democrats. Two Floridian ... (Politico)

Mark Warner Warns Trump Planning a 'Coordinated Effort to try to Interfere' in the Midterms

9 hrs ago - Feb 5th, 2026, 5:30 pm Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, sounded the alarm on Thursday about President Donald Trump’s recent statements urging Republicans to “take over” elections from the ... (MEDIAite)