Well, we have our wheels in motion now. Judge Talwani of the District Court of Massachusetts has once again stopped the USPS from acting on Trump’s executive order directing them to change the rules around mail-in ballots.

The judge has ruled these changes are unconstitutional, and in violation of Article 1, Section 4 of the US Constitution; which they are.

SCOTUS will likely now, eventually, determine the legality of the Executive Order but I’m really hoping that Judge Talwani issues an injunction, Trump appeals to SCOTUS, and they don’t even bother hearing the case…that’s probably a pipe dream but a guy can hope for that level of Presidential embarrassment, right? 😂

Joe

However, I always tell you guys to read beyond the headlines for stories just like this.

The ruling today, on its surface sounded really bad, but reading about what the ruling actually pertained to, my anxiety was quickly reduced; Because it had nothing to do with the legality of Trump’s executive order.

I break down the ruling in my video here…

Joe

But there a couple of big stories from that evening that are getting overshadowed by Abdul El-Sayed’s dramatic Senate primary win.

Major Republican-backed ballot initiatives that were considered crucial and must-wins, that were defeated; and decidedly so. I’m not talking about ballot initiatives in blue states, either. I’m talking deep-red states.

Lets get into it…

Amendment 5 was on Missouri’s ballot on Tuesday and that would have eliminated Missouri’s state income tax. It would have allowed lawmakers to compensate for the lost revenue by increasing sales taxes and could have potentially meant taxes being applied to currently untaxed services in the state. The Republican governor and multiple Republican legislative leaders backed the measure.

Critics argued that not having a state income tax would all but guarantee that the tax burden would shift to middle and lower-income households with the promise of higher sales taxes. They won’t be making more money, but the taxes on everything they already buy and will need to continue buying, will increase dramatically while the top income earners likely won’t notice the jump in sales tax like a lower-earning household would. That’s the inherent problem with having no income tax. It’s regressive.

The people of Missouri weren’t interested, though. It lost with roughly 83% of voters voting “no”. EIGHTY THREE PERCENT. In today’s divisive political arena, 83% on ANY issue is absolutely bonkers.

Now, over in Kansas, the voters got to decide on an amendment to their state constitution on how their state’s Supreme Court justices get selected. So first, let’s get into the current process and then how the amendment would have changed it.

Currently, when a vacancy opens up on the Kansas Supreme Court, a nominating commission made up of 9 people (5 lawyers and 4 non-lawyers) convenes and they review applications, conduct public interviews, and finally they send a list of 3 candidates to the Governor. The Governor must pick one of those 3 finalists to appoint to the bench. Nominees must be at least 30 years old, lawyers admitted to practice in Kansas, and have practiced law in the state for at least 10 years. After their first year on the bench, the newly appointed justice must face a state-wide retention vote where the voters choose either “yes” or "no”. If they win that vote, they serve a 6 year term. Every 6 years, they must win another “yes/no” vote to stay on the bench. It’s a very fair, minimally partisan way of selecting justices.

The Republican politicians in Kansas, understandably don’t like that process very much. Kansas has become an epicenter for abortion rights battles and Republican lawmakers have long raged against the Kansas Supreme Court for upholding those rights; dealing legal blows to Republicans and their agenda of controlling women’s bodies any chance they get. The current selection process is a problem for Republicans because there is very little (if any) opportunity to exert political influence over it.

The amendment to the state’s constitution would have changed that. The amendment would have allowed the voters to directly elect justices to the bench. Direct election sounds nice and democratic, until you remember that direct elections bring campaigns, and campaigns bring money. Too much money. Money from PACs and private billionaire donors that can influence an election simply by buying more TV ads than the other candidate. Then you have a state Supreme Court justice selection process that is no longer based on merit, but rather money.

The voters in Kansas defeated this ballot measure handedly. 62%-38%.

The candidates usually get all of the coverage, all of the air time, and all of the attention on election night and the days following. But oftentimes, if you’re looking for clues as to how plugged in the electorate is; how excited one party is over the other to actually get out the vote, these ballot measures are a great barometer.

As of right now, signs are pointing to a good November for Democrats. But that only happens if we show up. If we do the work.

Check your registration often. Make a plan to vote now. Make a plan to bring a friend with you. Bring five! But make sure we’re doing the work snd taking nothing for granted.

This is too important.

Chat soon,

Joe

But one question that hardly ever gets asked is, “who is holding the government’s watchdogs accountable?”

Every federal agency has an Inspector General or an IG. An IG is an independent official charged with investigating fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct. When something goes wrong inside the government, these are the people tasked with uncovering it and shining light on things some would rather stay in shadow. Their work has exposed everything from procurement fraud to ethics violations and failures in national security. They are a vital cog in the machine of government.

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Most people hear news like this and think about elections. The reality is much bigger than that.

South Carolina’s Republican governor is expected to appoint an interim replacement for Graham, but whomever that replacement is, will have to run and win in November during the midterm elections in order to keep the seat beyond January 3rd, 2027. Dr. Annie Andrews, the Democrat nominee for Graham’s seat, had already been polling well so we’ll see how this shockwave affects the voters of South Carolina. But appointments aren’t always immediate, and even temporary vacancies can matter when every vote counts.

Think about what could happen if a Supreme Court justice announced a retirement tomorrow.

Would Senate leadership wait? Almost certainly not. If history is any guide, they’d want to move as quickly as possible before anything else changed. When a party has a narrow majority, every senator becomes indispensable. A single vacancy, illness, or absence can complicate confirmation timelines and force leaders to rethink their strategy.

The same is true for legislation.

Whether it’s a budget package, judicial confirmations, executive branch nominees, or another high-profile bill, Senate leaders don’t just ask whether they have the votes—they ask whether those votes will actually be in the room on the day they’re needed.

That’s why health has quietly become one of the most important political variables in Washington.

For years, Americans have debated the ages of presidential candidates. Less attention has been paid to the fact that many of the people deciding which judges are confirmed, which laws reach the president’s desk, and how Congress functions are themselves well into their seventies and eighties.

Politics often feels like it’s driven by polls and elections.

Sometimes it’s driven by hospital rooms and governors’ appointment powers.

That’s the uncomfortable reality of governing with razor-thin margins and an increasingly aging Congress. Every seat matters, every vote matters, and sometimes the biggest political story isn’t an election at all—it’s whether the Senate has every member available when history comes calling.

Joe

Last week, Congress failed to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), allowing one of the government’s most important foreign intelligence authorities to lapse. Section 702 permits the NSA and FBI to collect communications of foreign nationals overseas without obtaining individual warrants. Although Americans cannot legally be targeted, their communications can be collected incidentally when they communicate with those foreign targets, making the law controversial among civil liberties advocates.

Personally I think this is a win for the US, let’s get into why…

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For nearly a decade, Trump and his allies claimed that Democrats had “weaponized” the federal government against their political opponents. They argued that law enforcement and federal agencies should never be used to target rivals for political gain. Whether one agreed with those claims or not, Trump’s rhetoric was unmistakable and unambiguous: using the machinery of government against political opponents was a threat to democracy.

Now, with Gavin Newsom emerging as one of the Democratic Party’s most visible national figures, the Trump administration is doing precisely what it once condemned. The Justice Department has repeatedly clashed with California under Newsom’s leadership, while Trump himself has publicly singled out Newsom for criticism and even announced investigations into California without providing detailed evidence.

The timing of all of this is also difficult to ignore. The 2028 presidential race may still be years away, but Newsom is already widely viewed as a potential Democratic frontrunner. Conservative media outlets and Republican operatives have increasingly focused their attacks not just on Newsom himself, but on his wife as well, suggesting they see him as a serious future threat.

Thats why I think he most obvious explanation here is political fear. Trump understands something many Republicans also privately recognize: Gavin Newsom is one of the few Democrats with the national profile, fundraising ability, media skills, and political infrastructure to mount a formidable presidential campaign. Rather than defeating him in the arena of ideas, the administration appears determined to keep him tied up in investigations and controversy.

Americans should reject this regardless of party. The principle is simple: the Justice Department should pursue facts and evidence, not political vendettas. If Republicans genuinely believed that “weaponization” of government was happening and was wrong under Obama and Biden, they should be just as outraged when it happens under Trump.

Otherwise, it was never about protecting democracy. It was only about who controlled the weapon.

Joe

This appears to have been executed under the guise of investigating election fraud in the 2024 election but, if that were true, Ohio is a very strange place to look for such fraud. However, if one was trying to intimidate the voters of Ohio ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, then it would be perfect place to execute such an operation. Let’s get into it…

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During his time as California Attorney General, Becerra became nationally known for leading lawsuits against the Trump administration on issues ranging from environmental protections to the Affordable Care Act. Californians saw him as a legal firewall for our values at a time when the state was frequently at odds with Washington. His office also pursued opioid manufacturers, the fossil fuel industry, expanded consumer privacy enforcement, protected workers with lawsuits against Uber, and took aggressive action against corporate fraud. He also implemented sweeping changes to policing in the state of California. Xavier Becerra is the reason why choke holds are banned for California cops and why police officers under investigation can’t simply transfer to a different department to escape wrong-doing allegations. Departments and the state are now required to investigate officer misconduct even if they no longer work in the department the complaint originated in. If gross misconduct is found, officers are now subject to decertification as peace officers. Before Becerra, that wasn’t the case.

Before his time as AG, Becerra served more than two decades in Congress, where he earned a reputation as a detail-oriented legislator deeply involved in budget and healthcare policy. As one of the highest-ranking Latino Democrats in Congress at the time, he also represented a growing political coalition that increasingly shaped both California and national politics. From 1997 to 1998, he served as the chair of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus and from 2013-2017, he served as the chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

Most recently, his tenure as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden placed him at the center of some of the most difficult public health challenges in modern American history. From overseeing the COVID-19 response efforts to implementing major portions of the Inflation Reduction Act’s healthcare provisions, Becerra helped manage a massive federal agency during a period of intense political division and public scrutiny. In this executive role, he oversaw roughly 72,000 federal employees and he balanced a budget that is bigger than that of the state of California’s.

Critics have argued that his leadership style can be overly cautious or bureaucratic. But even many political opponents acknowledge that Becerra approaches public service with seriousness and institutional knowledge rather than spectacle.

In an era where politics is often dominated by outrage cycles and viral moments, Becerra’s career stands out for a different reason: level-headedness. His public record is less about headline-grabbing rhetoric and more about the long, technical work of government — lawsuits, regulations, healthcare systems, and policy implementation. For me, that steady, experienced approach is precisely the point.

If you are a California resident and haven’t voted yet, I strongly urge you to make a plan today. The primary is June 2nd. Democracy is not a spectator sport; it only works if we do.

I’m proud to have voted for Xavier Becerra for Governor.

Joe

In Wisconsin, Georgia, and a whole host of other often overlooked local races, Democrats didn’t just win, they over-performed expectations by margins large enough to suggest something deeper than just “turnout noise.” This was not a one-off. It was a continuation of a pattern that is painting a grim picture for MAGA.

Lets talk numbers…

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already on the wall.

The Trump administration came to the Court asking for something extraordinary: the power to unilaterally rewrite the meaning of the 14th Amendment. By the end of two hours of oral arguments, even a conservative-leaning Court seemed wholly unconvinced. Let’s get into it…

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Yes, it’s that level of silly. The Party Switch is one of the most well-documented parts of political history in this country and yet, countless conservatives in comment sections across the internet flat out deny it ever happened. They say it’s a “myth”. But they have to. They need it to be a myth because if it isn’t, then reality for them becomes that conservatives have always been on the wrong side of history.

Always.

Let’s get into it…

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This week, the White House offered exactly that message.

During a briefing on the war with Iran, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt assured Americans that fuel costs would soon fall once the conflict ends, saying the current increases are temporary and that Americans will see oil and gas prices “decrease rapidly”, possibly to even lower prices than before the war. (Insert laugh track here)

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The 14th amendment was ratified in 1868 and has granted citizenship to any child born in the United States ever since. Indeed, it has been a pact—if you were born here, you belong here; you can call the United States your home.

That sense of belonging and ownership has paid great dividends for our country and the world.

Jonas Salk was the son of two jewish immigrants from Easters Europe. He was born in New York City in 1914 and thanks to the 14th Amendment, he was granted citizenship and given access to an education he otherwise may not have received had he not been a citizen. His status allowed him to pursue a higher education in the medical science field and in the mid 1950s, Jonas Salk would develop the vaccine for polio.

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As you know, these Q and A’s where you’re guaranteed a response from me on any of your questions, is one of the benefits of being a paid subscriber. So first of all, if you’re receiving this message, thank you so so much.

But, for this Q and A, I have a question for you! I want to expand the benefits I offer to my paid subscribers but I also want to make sure that whatever I do, it’s something you all actually want to see.

I would really like to do deep dive videos that are available to my paid subscribers only. Videos that would be different than the debunking videos that I already post for everybody. I’m talking about longer-form, deep dives into policy questions, civics in general, etc. My short-form videos are more current and tend to follow the news of any given day. These videos wouldn’t necessarily have to. They could be about anything related to government, whether actively being talked about in the current news cycle or not.

If any of you have a minute and a thought, I would love to hear from you in the comments of this post about what you’d like to see. What would be interesting to you? What would benefit you the most?

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And Republicans couldn’t be more terrified

I’ll explain what I think is the REAL reason why Republicans all over the country have tried so hard to discredit Mamdani’s campaign, his religion, and his policies in this edition of The Rundown…

Let’s get into it…

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The USDA (the agency that manages and funds SNAP) has removed a 55 PDF document from its website that spelled out a plan on how they were going to fund SNAP in the event of a government shutdown.

Now, if you go to the site, instead of finding this “Lapse in Funding Plan”, you will find a blatant Hatch Act violation where the USDA is blaming the democrats for shutting down the government—the propaganda abounds.

Fortunately for us, my friend found that 55 page PDF on an archive site that had the entire document preserved. That document proves not only did Trump’s OMB and USDA have a plan to keep SNAP funded during a government shutdown (because obviously), not only did it explicitly state that Congress thought it was necessary to keep it funded (because obviously), but it also says the multi-year contingency funds are to be used for this very scenario.

There are only two people denying 12.3% of Americans or 41.7 million people from buying groceries on November 1st: US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Collins and President Donald Trump. They are choosing to let Americans go hungry that otherwise do not have to.

Please help us spread the word.

Joe

If you participated in the first NoKings rally, then you know how exciting, fulfilling, and meaningful tomorrow will feel.

If you didn’t participate the first time around but are planning to tomorrow, good for you. I’m proud of you and it will be a great experience for you.

If you couldn’t make the first and can’t make the second but will be sharing clips and stories about it, if you’ll be talking about it with your friends and family, if you will drive by a group of protesters and honk your horn in solidarity, then thank you. I’m proud of you too. This will take all of us and we all have our roles to play. Don’t ever doubt for a second that your voice, your resistance, or your contribution is less than or meaningless. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Below are 3 tips I have for anyone who is attending a protest tomorrow and my favorite quote of all time that just so happens to apply to task before us.

Always remember to be safe. Keep your head on a swivel and be aware of your surroundings.

Be loud, be assertive, but be peaceful.

Do not be intimidated. Know your rights. Film everything.

I’ll see you out there tomorrow.

Joe

Let’s get into it…

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Speaker Johnson is deliberately not swearing in Representative-Elect Grijalva of Arizona who won her seat in a special election 2 weeks ago.

Why?

Because she would be the 218th vote on the discharge petition to release the Epstein files.

Then, according to Rep Swalwell, we would see around 100 Republicans in the House vote in favor of releasing the files, thereby bucking Trump and throwing him and the rest of the MAGA officials under the bus.

If we can get enough public pressure on Speaker Johnson to call a pro-forma session of the House, we could see a huge crack in the GOP finally break.

Help me spread the word.

Tag your representatives. Call them. Email them. Send a carrier pigeon if you have to.

If Rep. Swalwell is right, this could be the beginning of the end of Trump.

Joe