Politics

Despite President Donald Trump’s delusions about the Epstein scandal, Pete Buttigieg says that his refusal to release the Epstein files poses a political risk greater than that of his Medicaid-slashing “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”  President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein in 1992 “He made this big deal about, ‘I’m going to come in, and we’re going to release these on Day 1,’” Buttigieg said on “The People’s Cabinet” podcast Tuesday. “I think [his supporters] believed him because he said he would. And that whole worldview is based on this idea that there are powerful people who were involved with Jeffrey Epstein, and he was going to fight them. But we all know for a fact that there were powerful people who were involved with Jeffrey Epstein, and he was one of them.” He went on to point out how Trump’s handling of the Epstein files isn’t just a sticking point with the left but also among his own supporters. “So you add all of that together, and I think—and then his response to the response has revealed how gullible he wants to think his own base is,” Buttigieg continued. “And I think a lot of people look at that and say, ‘Wait a minute, this is not just, like, you insulting the libs,’ which, you know, some of the supporters thrill to. It’s his supporters saying, ‘Wait a minute, you’re insulting me.’ And that’s a whole different thing.” YouTube Video Trump’s evasiveness combined with his bizarre and circuitous explanations regarding his relationship with Epstein, the GOP’s panicked responses, and his administration’s almost cartoonish deflection tactics have only fueled the public’s demand for transparency.  Buttigieg’s eloquence and command of long-form media remain one of the Democratic Party’s most potent super powers. Hopefully others will take note.

PoliticusUSA needs the support of readers like you to keep our voice strong. Please become a subscriber today. Subscribe now Donald Trump has spent years denying that there was any connection between Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and himself, but that changed today when Trump was talking to reporters on Air Force One. There is still no evidence that Trump did anything illegal, but this is a scandal that keeps growing. Audio: Trump was asked, “ Epstein has a certain reputation, obviously. I’m just curious, were some of the workers that were taken from you young women? Trump answered:  I don’t want to say, but everyone knows the people that were taken. And it was the concept of taking people that work for me is bad. But that story’s been pretty well out there. And the answer is yes. They work. Yes, they were. What did they do in the spa? Jobs In the spa? Yeah. People that work in the spa. I’ve a great spa. One of the best spas in the world at Mar-a-Lago. And people were taken out of the spa, hired by him. In other words, gone. And other people would come and complain, this guy is taking people from the spa. I didn’t know that. And then when I heard about it, I told them, I said, listen, we don’t want you taking our people, whether it was spa or not spa. I don’t want taking people. And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, outta here. Read more

PoliticusUSA needs your support. As the mainstream media crumbles before Trump, we need to fight for facts and truth. Please help us by subscribing. Subscribe now Frustrated supporters often ask why Democrats aren’t doing more to fight back against Trump and fight for democracy. An event on Tuesday demonstrated what Democrats are doing and why so many people don’t know about it. Democrats held a press conference to announce the reintroduction of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Sen. Raphael Warnock was one of the senators who spoke at the event, and he said:  Here’s the thing, voting rights are preservative of all other rights. That’s right. Democracy is the very house in which we live it. It is the framework in which we get to fight. PoliticusUSA is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. For the things that we care about. There’s so many places all around the world where you don’t get to fight, you don’t get to use your voice in the way that we have taken for granted. And these last seven months have reminded us that we ought not take any of it for granted. We are literally in a fight for the life of the republic. We are in a fight to make sure that everybody has a voice and that we don’t give in to the authoritarian movement that is afoot right now in our country. So much is at stake, and right now, even as we stand here pushing this John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, lawmakers in Texas are being called back into a special session. Think about that. In Texas, in the middle of July, they’re going back into session in order to redraw the maps in the middle of the decade. Not only are they saying the quiet part out loud, they are acting on it with a vengeance in real time. And so just think about that. The very folk who just took healthcare away from 16 million Americans. The very people who just passed legislation that will cause just about everybody’s healthcare premiums to go up are now busy trying to make sure that those Americans do not have the ability to fire them. They’ve deprived people of a doctor and now they’re trying to doctor the voting maps. That’s why we have to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act, and we need to do it now. And so instead of representing the people’s needs, they’re spending the next year and a half trying to redraw the lines, squeezing the people out of their democratic system so they no longer have a vote and a voice. This is what you call turning democracy upside down. So, rather than the people choosing their representatives, politicians get to pick their own people. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act restores federal pre-clearance of changes to voting rights in states that have had violations in the past. The legislation also expands the ability of the courts to protect voting rights, and it importantly requires federal pre-clearance in states that have voting rights violations before a state can change its voter ID laws or redistricting. The introduction of this legislation is a significant development, yet it received zero coverage in the mainstream media. It is not going to pass this year, but with Democrats thinking that they have a good chance of taking back the House and Senate next year, they are lining up support and demonstrating their priorities for the future when they again control Congress and the White House. The rewritten Voting Rights Act followed the Supreme Court’s Shelby decision guidelines, so it starts off under the premise that it will survive a legal challenge. Democrats are sending the message that they have the tools to strengthen democracy. They only need voters to give them the power to act. What do you think of Sen. Warnock’s speech? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Leave a comment

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin’s goal of driving a dagger through the heart of climate efforts is well underway.  During a press conference in Indiana on Tuesday, Zeldin announced plans to rescind a 2009 scientific finding stating that greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, are bad for human health. “In our work so far, many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent, and warped science to achieve their preferred ends and stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year,” he said. Energy Secretary Chris Wright According to Zeldin, the EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions standards are “the real threat to Americans’ livelihoods”—not carbon dioxide.   “If finalized, rescinding the Endangerment Finding and resulting regulations would end $1 trillion or more in hidden taxes on American businesses and families,” he added.  Carbon dioxide emissions have long been understood in the scientific community as a contributor to worsening climate change and more extreme weather events. But that didn’t stop Energy Secretary Chris Wright from supporting Zeldin on Fox News Tuesday, equating greenhouse gas limits to “the cancel culture Orwellian squelching of science.” Ironically, as Wright went on his rant, Fox displayed an “extreme heat” warning in the lower right corner, an eerie reminder of the actual impacts of climate change. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says rescinding all greenhouse gas emissions regulations is about ending “the cancel culture Orwellian squelching of science” [image or embed] — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) July 29, 2025 at 11:27 AM So far, Zeldin’s efforts to overhaul the EPA have been widely successful. Like many of his Cabinet colleagues, he slashed his workforce substantially while freezing vital grants that fund ongoing environmental research.  Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California And while he’s been called out for his negligence by the likes of Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California for undoing projects in underfunded communities, Zeldin’s efforts have been widely accepted so far.   Between making it easier for businesses to bypass environmental regulations and stripping his own office of the ability to monitor greenhouse gas emissions, Zeldin has been hard at work. But his biggest battles seem to be with some more head-scratching issues.  In May, Zeldin decided to take it in the EPA’s hands to rid the United States of the tiresome start-stop feature in vehicles. And as if that wasn’t enough, he also took it upon himself to call for gas-can manufacturers to change their spout designs to pour gas more efficiently.  So while Zeldin works to dispel the idea that greenhouse gas emissions are harmful, he seems to be pushing for more products that emit them as well.

Two mass shootings on Monday claimed a total of seven lives, just as it was revealed that the Trump administration has cut millions in funding for groups working to prevent gun violence. Reuters reported on Tuesday that $158 million in grants for community violence intervention programs were cut in April. These grants were previously sent out by the Department of Justice, which is now under the control of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Reuters noted that groups in cities like Baltimore, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C., saw the brunt of the cuts. One of those cities, New York, was the site of a mass shooting on Monday. A gunman shot and killed four people and himself in a Manhattan office tower where the National Football League’s corporate headquarters are located. It appears to be the deadliest gun attack in the city in 25 years. Across the country, a gunman in Las Vegas opened fire at the Grand Sierra Resort, killing three people. Three other people were also injured in the attack. The map above locates a deadly shooting at 345 Park Ave. in midtown Manhattan. So far in 2025, there have been 253 mass shootings, according to data collected by the Gun Violence Archive. Pha’Tal Perkins, founder of the Chicago-based violence-prevention group Think Outside Da Block, told Reuters the vital role the programs being defunded provide in their communities. “Being able to have outreach teams at specific places at the right time to have conversations before things get out of hand is what people don’t see,” he said. The intervention programs received federal funding for the first time thanks to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law by former President Joe Biden. The legislation was the first major federal gun-safety legislation to secure passage in decades, and despite widespread support by Americans, it was opposed by extremist groups like the National Rifle Association. The former Biden administration backed gun-crime reduction through other policies as well, including the American Rescue Plan, which Republicans opposed. Under Biden, rates of violent crime were lower on average than those under the first Trump administration. Biden was praised by gun-safety groups like Everytown for Gun Safety for his administration’s funding of the programs that Trump has now killed. For his entire political career, Trump has been a major beneficiary of the NRA’s support. The group’s political action committee endorsed him in 2024, and he has repeatedly opposed gun-safety measures, even as thousands of Americans are killed due to gun violence every year. Now, as Americans mourn more dead, they learn that the federal government is on the side of more violence.

President Donald Trump’s crap sandwich of a trade “deal” with Europe is about to make the cost of some of the most popular and lifesaving drugs skyrocket—the latest negative consequence of Trump’s nonsensical tariff policy. The “deal” Trump announced with Europe on Sunday puts a 15% tariff on pharmaceuticals imported into the United States from the European Union, which Reuters reported could cost pharmaceutical companies as much as $19 billion. Those tariffs will cut into drugmakers’ profits, which experts say will cause those same drug manufacturers to pass those costs on to Americans. And that will lead insurance companies to either raise prices for everyone in the form of higher insurance premiums, or for individuals who purchase the affected drugs when they pick them up from the pharmacy. Medicare and Medicaid—already facing pressure amid draconian Republican cuts—will also be hit, as the millions of Americans covered by those government health insurance programs also use the drugs that now face new and destructive tariffs. “This will only hurt a little” by Jack Ohman “The big picture is: The cost of imported drugs is about to become more expensive for all Americans,” Joe Brusuelas, principal and chief economist for the management consulting firm RSM US, told Axios. That’s the antithesis of Trump’s idiotic claim that he was going to lower drug prices by more than 1,000%—which shows he doesn’t understand how math or percentages work.  Reuters reported that 60% of the drugs imported to the United States come from the EU—including many popular and lifesaving medications. For example, the diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound are all manufactured in the EU. So are biologics like Humira and Stelara, which treat everything from Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, arthritis, to psoriasis. Keytruda—a miracle cancer drug that helps the body’s own immune system fight a number of deadly cancers like melanoma, lung, and lymphoma—is also manufactured in the EU and will be impacted by Trump’s tariffs. Even more concerning for the MAGA crowd is that Botox is also manufactured in Ireland, which could spike the cost of the cosmetic injectable that Mar-a-Lago members load their faces with. Viagra is also made in Ireland, but we don’t want to speculate who in the MAGA-sphere uses that drug to avoid losing our lunch. Drug makers, for their part, warned the Trump administration not to put tariffs on drug imports for this very reason. “We encourage Commerce to focus this investigation on targeted strategic national security concerns, rather than imposing tariffs on innovative medicines that would not advance the Administration’s goal of enhancing national security nor address the trade barriers faced by the industry in foreign markets,” the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America wrote in a May letter to the Trump administration. But Trump didn’t listen, and now all Americans are going to pay the price. Ultimately, this is just the latest attack on Americans’ health by the Trump administration, which has cut funding for research to cure cancer and other devastating illnesses, attacked vaccines and fluoride, and signed legislation that will kick millions off their health insurance.

Companies feared rules and lawsuits based on the Office of Research and Development’s assessments of the dangers of formaldehyde, ethylene oxide and other substances. By Marianne Lavelle for Inside Climate News Soon after President Donald Trump took office in January, a wide array of petrochemical, mining and farm industry coalitions ramped up what has been a long campaign to limit use of the Environmental Protection Agency’s assessments of the health risks of chemicals. That effort scored a significant victory on July 18 when EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced his decision to dismantle the agency’s Office of Research and Development (ORD). Lee Zeldin testifies at a Senate subcommittee hearing on May 14. The industry lobbyists didn’t ask for hundreds of ORD staff members to be laid off or reassigned. But the elimination of the agency’s scientific research arm goes a long way toward achieving the goal they sought. In a January 27 letter to Zeldin organized by the American Chemistry Council, more than 80 industry groups—including leading oil, refining and mining associations—asked him to end regulators’ reliance on ORD assessments of the risks that chemicals pose for human health. The future of that research, conducted under EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System program, or IRIS, is now uncertain. “EPA’s IRIS program within ORD has a troubling history of being out of step with the best available science and methods, lacking transparency, and being unresponsive to peer review and stakeholder recommendations,” said an American Chemistry Council spokesperson in an email when asked about the decision to eliminate ORD. “This results in IRIS assessments that jeopardize access to critical chemistries, undercut national priorities, and harm American competitiveness.” The spokesperson said the organization supports EPA evaluating its resources to ensure tax dollars are being used efficiently and effectively. Related | EPA chief crows about killing regulations while climate change worsens H. Christopher Frey, an associate dean at North Carolina State University who served as EPA assistant administrator in charge of ORD during the Biden administration, defended the quality of the science done by the office, which he said is “the poster case study of what it means to do science that’s subject to intense scrutiny.” “There’s industry with a tremendous vested interest in the policy decisions that might occur later on,” based on the assessments made by ORD. “What the industry does is try to engage in a proxy war over the policy by attacking the science.” Among the IRIS assessments that stirred the most industry concern were those outlining the dangers of formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, arsenic and hexavalent chromium. Regulatory actions had begun or were looming on all during the Biden administration. The Biden administration also launched a lawsuit against a LaPlace, Louisiana, plant that had been the only U.S. manufacturer of neoprene, Denka Performance Elastomer, based in part on the IRIS assessment of one of its air pollutants, chloroprene, as a likely human carcinogen. Denka, a spinoff of DuPont, announced it was ceasing production in May because of the cost of pollution controls. Public health advocates charge that eliminating the IRIS program, or shifting its functions to other offices in the agency, will rob the EPA of the independent expertise to inform its mission of protection. “They’ve been trying for years to shut down IRIS,” said Darya Minovi, a senior analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists and lead author of a new study on Trump administration actions that the group says undermine science. “The reason why is because when IRIS conducts its independent scientific assessments using a great amount of rigor … you get stronger regulations, and that is not in the best interest of the big business polluters and those who have a financial stake in the EPA’s demise.” The UCS report tallied more than 400 firings, funding cuts and other attacks on science in the first six months of the Trump administration, resulting in 54 percent fewer grants for research on topics including cancer, infectious disease and environmental health. Related | EPA purges vital staff in win for Trump’s ‘polluter buddies’ EPA’s press office did not respond to a query on whether the IRIS controversy helped inform Zeldin’s decision to eliminate ORD, which had been anticipated since staff were informed of the potential plan at a meeting in March. In the agency’s official announcement Friday afternoon, Zeldin said the elimination of the office was part of “organizational improvements” that would deliver $748.8 million in savings to taxpayers. The reduction in force, combined with previous departures and layoffs, have reduced the agency’s workforce by 23 percent, to 12,448, the EPA said. With the cuts, the EPA’s workforce will be at its lowest level since fiscal year 1986. “Under President Trump’s leadership, EPA has taken a close look at our operations to ensure the agency is better equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment while Powering the Great American Comeback,” Zeldin said in the prepared statement. “This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars.” The agency will be creating a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions; a report by E&E News said an internal memo indicated the new office would be much smaller than ORD, and would focus on coastal areas, drinking water safety and methodologies for assessing environmental contamination. Zeldin’s announcement also said that scientific expertise and research efforts will be moved to “program offices”—for example, those concerned with air pollution, water pollution or waste—to tackle “statutory obligations and mission essential functions.” That phrase has a particular meaning: The chemical industry has long complained that Congress never passed a law creating IRIS. Congress did, however, pass many laws requiring that the agency carry out its actions based on the best available science, and the IRIS program, established during President Ronald Reagan’s administration, was how the agency has carried out the task of assessing the science on chemicals since 1985. Justin Chen, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, the union representing 8,000 EPA workers

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spent plenty of time on national television squawking about the “leakers” he fired, but he never stopped to consider what would happen if people asked for evidence.  And as his former Fox News colleagues are rallying behind the “leakers”—identified as Darin Selnick, Dan Caldwell, and Colin Carroll—even they are saying that Hegseth’s up to something fishy.  According to Politico, White House insiders said that Vice President JD Vance’s aides started conducting their own investigations into whether or not Hegseth’s claims were substantiated.  Despite reportedly yelling, “I’ll hook you up to a fucking polygraph,” to then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Christopher Gray, Hegseth seems to be unable to hand over any proof to Vance’s aides that any leaks occurred.  President Donald Trump listens on as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the NATO summit in June. “If there’s any chance at Pete resetting and ensuring that whatever time he has left in this position is well served, he’s got to do it—otherwise Pete is just doubling down on the lie,” a source told Politico. On top of his flimsy “leakers” allegation, it wasn’t too long ago that Hegseth was in the hot seat for sharing war plans in a Signal group chat, which accidentally included a journalist. While Hegseth seems to be making headlines for all of the wrong reasons since taking over the Pentagon, one White House insider doesn’t think that it’ll have much sway over President Donald Trump’s favorable view of him.  “A lot of people swirl shit to try to take him down, honestly—but talk of drama with him is overblown,” they told Politico. “What I know is that everyone who matters has his back completely, currently.” If a sexual assault case and being booted from multiple positions for drinking and sexual misconduct wasn’t enough to stop Trump from nominating him to run the Defense Department, then this probably won’t move the needle much either.  But Hegseth’s circle seems to be getting smaller, even as he’s in Trump’s good graces. And with his closest White House confidants being under the microscope, insiders are preparing their popcorn.  As one source told Politico, “There’s going to be more shoes to drop all around.”

A cartoon by Tim Campbell. Related | Supreme Court allows Trump to lay off nearly 1,400 Education Department employees

Adelaide Parker Retreating water levels are exposing stretches of cracked, arsenic-laden lakebed in Utah. Future dust storms will carry an extra hazard. The post The Great Salt Lake Is a Ticking Time Bomb appeared first on The Nation.