Good morning from Syracuse High School! I’m here for the Davis County GOP convention. Big doings today as Rep. Trevor Lee faces delegates after two former employers leveled fraud allegations against him. If you’re here today, come find me and I’ll give you an Utah Political Watch sticker.

Kash Patel’s colleagues are alarmed by what they say is erratic behavior and excessive drinking, Sarah Fitzpatrick reports. More than two dozen people she spoke with described his management failures and conduct that could harm national security.

Time to Kash out.

JD Vance keeps assuming the doctrinal identity of Roman Catholicism and mainstream Protestantism with the Pentecostal church of his youth, but indeed there is very little overlap.

The fact that the Democrats didn’t have the political capital to try to reduce income inequality or return to historical marginal tax rates is not at all proof that they agree that the economy “just works that way”.

“Many of the countries that are most severely affected by the war say they recognize the benefits of transitioning faster to renewable energy to avoid future shocks related to oil disruptions. “We are not going back to where we were.” www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Trump illegally coerced Apple and Facebook into removing ICE tracking devices that citizens have every right to use, rules federal judge. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

that beep beep beep sound you hear is the president and his family backing a truck up to the US treasury... www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

A federal judge in Illinois today ruled that the Trump administration improperly coerced Facebook and Apple to remove ICE-tracking apps in violation of the First Amendment. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

“The next president must say on day one: We’re tearing down this arch; we’re razing Trump’s ballroom…Washington ceremonial architecture must be returned to the purpose for which it exists—to promote democracy, not the demented, bruised ego of one sick man.” newrepublic.com/post/209211/...

The Trump admin tried to end-run an order blocking the East Wing ballroom's construction by invoking an exception permitting work on the project’s “safety and security” features. Judge Leon indignantly clarifies: “That is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order!” buff.ly/kWARaBf

He’s a lifelong psychopath who developed dementia. Alzheimer’s vs PSP. May be getting repeated IV infusions of monoclonal antibodies every 4 weeks explaining the recurrent hand bruising. He would need regular brain MRI’s at Walter Reid (no MRI at the White House). He must be removed.

This is a crazy person

yes, that's an accurate quote www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

Yep. It’s fabulous that teen pregnancies are down! Also, birth rates have declined in nearly ALL developed countries. Female autonomy is the 1° reason, along with lower child mortality rates. (you don’t need 6 kids so 2 become adults) A societal shift occurs … 1/?

Also, some young people are not having kids because of our lack of action on climate change and what the world will be like in 40-50 years.

1/ 🧵 Last week, data on fertility and birth rates for 2025 was released. As news networks started reporting on it, this clip started making the rounds on socials. Now, I think most people will agree with me that a drop in teen pregnancy is a good thing. But when we zoom out, there is a bigger trend.

I sent a classified letter to House and Senate colleagues about a secret interpretation of surveillance law that every American should be concerned about. Representative Massie is right. The Constitution requires EVERY member to vote against a clean reauthorization.

At 250 feet tall, Trump's arch would be the biggest such structure in the world. Asked last fall what this modern-day arch was meant to commemorate, Trump pointed to himself and replied, “Me.” @sbg1.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...

TRUMP: Do you think men should play in women's sports? DOORDASH DRIVER: I really don't have an opinion on that. I'm here about no tax on tips.

Just want to be clear that when RFK Jr. said in the hearing today that he is “overhauling” the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, it is because this administration wants to reduce the number of services that health insurance companies are required to cover.

New: Federal judicial rulemakers voted to abandon a key part of a proposed rule governing the disclosure of who finances amicus briefs after top judges expressed concern the measure could interfere with the ​privacy of advocacy groups and their members. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Say Trump is somewhat or very religious Republicans 50% White evangelicals 49% Catholics 29% Black Protestants 13% Atheists 12% Democrats 10% https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/16/americans-have-become-more-likely-to-say-trump-is-not-too-or-not-at-all-religious/

Rising costs didn't erode trust. Technology didn't erode trust. Biased admissions that have existed for a century didn't erode trust suddenly in the last decade. The self-censoring & campus speech stuff starts to get at the problem, but again, the root cause of that is not even mentioned here.

I say this as a proud Yale alum & a professor at one of the country's premier public universities, one that's endured two decades of nonstop lies & attacks from the WI GOP about things happening on our campus: we simply are not going to get anywhere by denying the central cause of the trust problem.

This report hits on many important issues & identifies important problems that could be addressed. But it fails by writing about the problem of trust, from the outset, without even mentioning the decades of concerted attacks & lies coming from the far right authoritarian party & right-wing pundits.

I really don't know what to tell folks if they think any of these proposed reforms from Yale, or anything that we can possibly do here at UW - Madison, will change the Narrative™️ from the right in American politics about universities. We're a century into this stuff. We're not the problem.

The one thing you might say is a reasonable claim is that rising costs have "eroded trust" in higher education. And sure. But here at public universities, we cannot solve that problem on our own. There is a solution, but it's not one we can implement ourselves. It requires the politicians:

Despite the administration’s rhetoric and bogus legal theories, the supposed armed conflict with “narco-terrorists” appears to be entirely make believe. Murder is the general term for premeditated killing outside of armed conflict.

This is what we’re fighting for! Because of you, calls are coming in strong and your voices are being heard in the Senate. It’s making a difference. Keep going!!! Call 202-224-3121 and tell your Senators to vote NO on House Joint Resolution 140.

If you didn’t think it was possible after yesterday’s house editorial (left) for Washpost Opinion to more obsequiously parrot their owner’s tax agenda, well, you probably haven’t seen today’s piece (right)

Dear god. Very, very serious allegations of mass civil rights violations at the State of Florida's Everglades immigration detention center (officially known as "Alligator Alcatraz").

Trump Budget Seeks to Slash WIC Benefits for Millions www.cbpp.org/blog/for-sec...

Trump’s budget director Russ Vought was asked about this today by Rep. McGarvey. Vought responded by saying "our budget fully funds WIC." McGarvey corrected, "No it doesn't. It says it right here." The takeaway today was Vought actually couldn’t truthfully defend most of the attacks against him.

Oh so SCOTUS Justices CAN call out their colleagues' bullshit without fake civility or apologies www.huffpost.com/entry/suprem...

Republicans just want the Pope to stay out of politics like in the late 30’s, is that so much to ask?

Gov Sherrill: “We inherited an agreement where FIFA is providing $0 for transportation to the World Cup. And while NJ TRANSIT is stuck with a $48 million bill to safely get fans to and from games, FIFA is making $11 billion.”

Also call Sen. Tim Sheehy, Montana. From the Star Tribune: "Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana, who grew up near Anoka and canoed the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, said he will support today's vote to allow mining outside the BWCAW, but that is was "not an easy decision" to make"

The Senate’s final vote on repealing the ban on mining near the Boundary Waters has been scheduled for Thursday morning. Sen. Tina Smith is expected to continue speaking then.

So proud of Senator Tina Smith who is holding the Senate Floor right NOW to protect the Boundary Waters. Watch here www.youtube.com/live/omq2Jyg...

It wasn't even his policy. Democrats in the legislature passed it, he vetoed it, and they overrode his veto. Then he took credit for it.

NEW: Justice Sotomayor statement: "At a recent appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case, but I made remarks that were inappropriate. I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague."

And, here was my interview with the law prof who coined the phrase "Kavanaugh stop." www.lawdork.com/p/talking-ab...

Opinion: Arizona's universal school voucher program hurts the state. Let's not take it national. We need to repeal the federal tax credit voucher now.

No shit fellas www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Xavier Becerra #LGBTQ supporter. 👏👏 Pass it on #BecerraForGovernor

clarence thomas is just reciting a circa 2010 glenn beck rant verbatim abcnews.com/Politics/sup...

Oh, Justice Thomas, you see. “progressivism” as the main threat to the “Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government”? I’ve got some other candidates. abcnews.com/Politics/sup...