Anyone found guilty of a false claim must not only pay back the ill-gotten funds, but three times the amount in damages. buff.ly/DYLdHP7

As Americans stew over the looming risk of job-stealing AI and data centers in their back yards, the feds are raising the alarm about a new category of threat, documents obtained by WIRED show. www.wired.com/story/us-law...

Former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin secured the Democratic endorsement for Connecticut’s 1st District in a historic upset to incumbent Rep. John Larson, a working-class progressive with a storied record of taking on corporate power. buff.ly/LuLtL61

The Trump regime is finding new ways to terrorize the federal workforce and strip Americans of our civil services. New from me in @prospect.org.

On Friday, the Trump administration, which is demanding that Congress pass a straight reauthorization of FISA Section 702, missed a deadline to declassify a FISA Court opinion that reportedly reveals yet more major Section 702 compliance problems. 1/14

Three Republican candidates fighting for two open District 1 and District 5 seats on the Louisiana PSC this year received substantial support from PSC-regulated entities or orgs, PACs or businesses with ties to those enterprises. https://bit.ly/4eHxaBB

An important race affecting affordability for millions is totally off the radar. Jane Kim, candidate for California insurance commissioner, is pitching a single payer program for disaster insurance, to align insurance with homeowners. prospect.org/2026/05/14/j...

Great breaking news! The House Appropriations Committee just adopted an amendment from @repespaillat.bsky.social that would stop the government from bypassing the courts to buy our online information from shady data brokers. This would be a needed safeguard against AI surveillance systems.

Declassifying the FISA court’s March opinion would enable policymakers to make an informed decision about the future of Section 702. It could also help them offer some much-needed clarification on what counts as a U.S. person query.

I was at the Milken Conference today, which is West Coast Davos. And none of the investors and hedge funders and private equity guys assembled there wanted to think much about the war we started that is going to trigger a global recession. prospect.org/2026/05/05/c...

Gil Barndollar was on the front lines in Ukraine, where drones now account for more than 80% of the casualties on both sides. But the real problem is finding enough people to fight; even the drones take people to manage them. There is no war without sacrifice. prospect.org/2026/05/05/d...

⛽ Average U.S. gas prices per gallon on May 4, per AAA: • Regular: $4.46 (⬆️ $1.48 since war in Iran began on Feb. 28) • Premium: $5.31 (⬆️ $1.45 since war began) • Diesel: $5.64 (⬆️ $1.88 since war began)

So @wyden.senate.gov gets Intel Cmte buy-in on asking for declassifying the FISA court order, which could show abuses, but ODNI and AG don't necessarily have to agree.

A new NEA study on teacher compensation shows a 27% pay gap between teachers and similarly educated professionals. But the one thing that reduces that gap is collective bargaining. Great story from Naomi Bethune. prospect.org/2026/05/01/c...

Great piece from @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social on the FISA mess, calling out all the Democratic collaborators. While everyone is talking about the lack of warrants for spying on Americans, he highlights a potentially bigger issue: unleashing AI on the massive dragnet of intercepted communications.

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JUST NOW: Sen. Tom Cotton threatens @wyden.senate.gov for trying to declassify a secret court opinion on systemic FISA abuses before any long-term extension.  “One of these days there are going to be some consequences, and it may be while I’m the chairman of this committee”

Congress is at an impasse over a controversial section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows spying on Americans without a warrant. But while publicly saying the bill was "unacceptable," top Dem on the Intel Committee Jim Himes was privately urging colleagures to support it.

After briefly reconvening on Tuesday morning, the House Rules Committee indefinitely postponed its meeting, where members were planning to hammer out a rule to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). buff.ly/kUJAsnV

Just as a raw politics level, Janet Mills' veto of the data center moratorium in Maine suggests that she ultimately has no interest in running for office anymore

When a country appears poised to default on its national debt, a certain class of hedge funds spies opportunity. buff.ly/A7qNCp2

House GOP leadership's new stab at FISA 702. docs.house.gov/billsthiswee... On 1st scan: 3 year extension. Adds ODNI review of FBI queries for US person info; criminalizes bad ones; & makes it so only FBI lawyers (not supervisors) can approve them. Seems like a tough sell to Freedom Caucus types.

one thing I love doing is reporting on the abysmal American healthcare "system" while also trapped inside it. Here's my latest, read it and get mad because you deserve better too!!!

And these are just instances of #FISA702 being used to spy on Americans that we know about

“When these incentive structures operate out of sight, it is the victims who bear the consequences,” a Coveware executive tells @cnn.com. www.cnn.com/2026/04/22/p...

The Energy and Policy Institute released a report analyzing compensation of utility CEO’s across the country. From 2017-2025, reported CEO pay has reached over $5 billion. Meanwhile, customers are told to turn down the thermostat to afford their bills. bit.ly/42iIJHR

New: Gov. Janet Mills is undecided on whether to sign a bill banning data centers in Maine I spoke to Mills in detail about her hesitation. Closely watched: first of its kind statewide moratorium amid an intense national debate over data centers & AI. www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...

Update on where things stand on FISA: this deal is a win. We got the House to back down from an 18 month extension, buying us time to negotiate on real reforms. I'll be fighting like hell for reforms that put your privacy first, and will have more to share soon.

Good summary of last night's ultimately failed shenanigans on FISA from @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social. Reform advocates are in the best position they've been maybe ever. prospect.org/2026/04/17/m...

Rep. Raskin likened them to dog food, and Rep. McGovern said anyone who votes for them is a “cheap date.” The House Democrats were talking about Speaker Johnson’s renewal package for FISA Section 702. That combusted last night. We got you covered @prospect.org

The energy assistance program some six million low-income households depend on to pay for home heating and cooling is once again on the chopping block. It’s the sixth time Trump has sought to eliminate federal funding for the program. buff.ly/CgB4YDY

Johnson tries again on spy powers vote amid GOP rebellion

More than 50 members of Congress have endorsed a letter supporting privacy reforms ahead of Wednesday’s FISA 702 reauthorization vote. The tri-caucus letter from CPC, CHC and CAPAC calls for “meaningful Fourth Amendment protections” in the renewal package.

The Prospect has learned that the Congressional Black Caucus will support a clean reauthorization of a warrantless spying program that expires in a week, despite its past use to surveil Black Lives Matter activists. @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social and Dan Boguslaw report. prospect.org/2026/04/13/c...

NEW: Congress is expected to vote on a clean extension of FISA 702 as soon as Wednesday. Intel hawks have been racing against the clock to prevent the warrantless spying program from lapsing. One such hawk, Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), has managed to get the CBC on board with that.

Literally every time FISA 702 needs to be reauthorized, some leak about an attack thwarted by FISA 702 magically comes out

The Mamdani administration today announced its own click to cancel rule, to make sure that every subscription transaction in the city is as easy to end as it is to start. The FTC did this in 2023, it was challenged in court & Trump's FTC wouldn't defend it. NYC is doing it themselves.

Congress is considering reauthorizing a law that the government has repeatedly used to warrantlessly spy on U.S. citizens, including protestors and journalists. Our leaders must vote no on this dangerous privacy invasion.

Jim Himes claimed in town halls that the US doesn't buy commercial data from data brokers. This is untrue; the NSA disclosed this years ago. That's one of several misleading claims from Himes as he tries to sell an extension of warrantless spying. @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social reports.

Can’t emphasize enough how huge of a deal this is. @prospect.org is going 100% ad-free.

There will now be a permanently higher cost to shipping in one of the world’s most important choke points, as a new middleman enters the picture. buff.ly/jKKH78H

Great dispatch from @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social on Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Dem on House Intelligence who is trying to push through a Trump-supported clean extension of warrantless spying. Protesters challenged him at a town hall earlier this week. prospect.org/2026/04/02/p...

LMAO Rep. Jim Himes is holding a "private" town hall because he doesn't want to face protesters who oppose him giving warrantless spying powers to Trump. Our reporter @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social is on the scene.

This is big, this merger would give the local TV station group that took Jimmy Kimmel off the air 265 stations stretching across 80% of the country. They tried to quickly close the merger even though the states challenged it first. Tegna broadcasts were signing off local news with the Nexstar logo.

Brad Lander became the most high-profile user of the "People's Pledge," which aims to limit Super PAC spending in primaries. Larry Cohen, the former CWA president, has been pushing for this around the country. Good report by James Baratta. prospect.org/2026/03/25/a...

Trump has mounted a full-scale assault on offshore wind: repealing Biden’s renewable-power subsidies, adding a whole bunch more regulatory red tape to renewable investment, and attempting to illegally cancel several huge projects near completion. prospect.org?p=135929

Short of banning Super PAC influence, which would be a tough road in a post-Citizens United world, the Pledge is one of the few alternatives to give candidates without a rich outside benefactor a chance. prospect.org?p=135945

The national security blob is doing the usual fearmongering to extend warrantless wiretapping authority. But hardline House Republicans want to attach their voter suppression bill, the SAVE Act. That may doom both bills, writes James Baratta: prospect.org/2026/03/23/s...

House Republicans have threatened to hold a foreign surveillance extension hostage unless the Senate agrees to voter suppression. It may flip the script on superfluous government spying. buff.ly/WcCA7UX

Five small steps are all that stands between Americans and $70 billion in electricity rebates. These are things like "ratepayers shouldn't pay for lobbying expenses," which in many states they do. James Baratta looks at a new paper on rate reform. prospect.org/2026/03/18/h...