The Pentagon confirmed that it accepted an anonymous $130 million donation to help offset the cost of troops’ salaries and benefits during the shutdown.

One thing that’s become very clear is that corporations understand the Trump administration’s willingness to vindictively punish noncompliance, and view capitulation as pure upside. Which means consumers need to be very, very aggressive about punishing compliance to balance that.

NOVA was going to show up later after satellite early voting locations opened Fairfax had solid number of over 8K yesterday This will continue during early voting this weekend Norfolk had over 2500 yesterday after their satellites opened Hampton Roads turnout big ? For Dems

Not much change in Modeled Party ID the past few days, per @L2political; currently at 56.4% Dem - 38.7% R bluevirginia.us/2025/10/frid...

Ed Luce watching democracy die in the United States of America

In today’s newsletter, I admit that I did not know the layout of The White House. In Normal Times™️, the demolition of the East Wing would have been the scandal of the century … but there are bigger issues (ICE, for example). Subscribe and read more! lni.media/p/drama-in-c...

Trump's confidence that he can steal $230 million in taxpayer money was brought to you by SCOTUS. On the pod, a treat: @leahlitman.bsky.social breaks down the legal details of this scandal, Raskin's response, SCOTUS's role. Everything you need to know in 20 min: newrepublic.com/article/2022...

A not insignificant number of people knew the demolition was coming, including people at the White House Historical Association, and did nothing to stop it.

Goodbye Reps. Rob Wittman (R-VA01), Jen Kiggans (R-VA02), and John McGuire (R-VA05)? Yes, please! bluevirginia.us/2025/10/ny-t... h/t @zacharydonnini.bsky.social

If you can, please help support your local food banks during these difficult times. Arlington has a great partner in AFAC ➡️ afac.org/volunteer/ #virginia #arlington

Major redistricting news: Virginia Dems could target 2-3 GOP House seats (though they could flip 2 anyway on the current map). Dems have far fewer opportunities to redraw maps for 2026 as Republicans try to re-gerrymander nationwide, so a new Virginia map in 2026 instead of 2028 would be a big deal

All of the pilfering, vandalism, and outright death caused by DOGE cuts, and all of the thefts from the future by illegally stopping research grants, didn't save a penny, Trump spent the money and more on corruption and incompetent ICE goons.

Trump got paid. And in exchange, he is rewarding a criminal who will use his new freedom to make every single American less safe. Get furious. I sure as hell am, and wish we had a single Republican who was willing to support ANY oversight. www.wsj.com/finance/curr...

Reminder There are already 3 Constitutional Amendment ballot referendums in the works for Virginia in 2026 - Reproductive rights - Marriage equality - Repeal felon disenchantment Will happen if Dems win House of Delegates on November 4 Looking increasingly likely

If only they’d been proclaiming their love of Hitler, they could count as children well into their 40s.

That’s a trillion dollar increase in two months.

Good: Jamie Raskin tells me he's formally demanding any/all internal communications between WH and DOJ on Trump's $230 million payoff. More Dems should talk this way about Trump's criming. He's turning the presidency into a massive Bribe Delivery System. New piece: newrepublic.com/article/2021...

Since the United States election in November 2024, the technology industry has distinguished itself in the race to capitulate to and enable the Trump administration, writes Paul Barrett. No gesture of obsequiousness or loyalty has been too great or trivial for the moguls of Silicon Valley, he says.

I speculated that one reason they're hiding their faces is to keep people from outing criminal backgrounds. Well, I was right. www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...

Blue Line: Expect delays to Downtown Largo because of a deer struck by a train outside Van Dorn.

Earlier today, I looked quickly at a poll result showing that 1 in 8 Republicans think the No Kings protests were "mostly violent" — and half aren't sure if they were violent or peaceful. www.pbump.net/o/half-of-re...

Obviously redistricting initiative in California looks like it will pass easily I have discounted possibility Virginia Dems would redistrict anytime soon However there is theoretical window It would involve Dem controlled General Assembly and not Governor We’ll see…

This is gone now. The East Wing lobby two years ago.

absolutely shameful that the university has embraced the administration’s demand that it discriminate against its students. this is the board of visitors telling UVA students that if they aren’t white and cisgendered then they don’t belong.

The president of South Korea attempted a coup because he fell down the YouTuber conspiracy theorist rabbit hole. This is a thing now.

Why does everyone keep calling it “The Epstein Ballroom?” Please stop repeating “The Epstein Ballroom” because it is not called “The Epstein Ballroom!” Don’t tell the news that it’s called “The Epstein Ballroom” and please don’t repost this!!!!!

This is a great competitor for driving home how limply Dems fight in culture and info wars. Republicans were far more vocal—and pretended to be so much angrier—about the Cracker Barrel logo than Dems are about the demolition of the White House to build a gilded ballroom paid for with bribe money.

a live look at the demolition of the White House's East Wing for Trump's ballroom

For folks asking if they've made it *inside* a Home Depot yet as the business has clearly just continued letting agents do whatever they want in their lots, the answer is yes. This is from yesterday in Evanston.

There was already a *lot* going on with Bluesky, and now it's under even more pressure. I wrote about how I think about moderation, affordances, expectations, human needs, and powerful trolls for @techpolicypress.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/trump-admini...

Awful: Trump's $230 million shakedown from DOJ can be paid to him confidentially at first, without the public ever finding out about it until later, Rep Jamie Raskin tells me. Raskin will formally demand full communications between WH and DOJ on this. New from me: newrepublic.com/article/2021...

To address the trolls and naive critics and defend No Kings first: Literally speaking, the movement is aimed at the people who could rein Trump in but refuse or are afraid to do so. www.offmessage.net/p/a-no-kings...

“The people of Chicago are not acting like Democrats engaged in normal politics. They are acting like a dissident movement in an authoritarian system. Elected Democrats everywhere could learn from them.” www.thebulwark.com/p/we-will-te...

But for Dems who want to harness No Kings energy, without falling into (what they see as) the trap of uncut anti-Trumpism, there are many things they can promise to do with power in 2027-2028, then in 2029 and beyond. Some even overlap with kitchen-table issues! www.offmessage.net/p/a-no-kings...

The general contractor on the ballroom project is Clark Construction. ACECO is a subcontractor that Clark frequently uses. Maybe if you're doing future projects you consider this? www.bizjournals.com/washington/n...

Didn't know that, and yes, it makes going all in on Platner even dumber. This guy may have a normie haircut, but: *Katie Porter's chief of staff *VP of End Citizens United *Director of democracyFirst *Backs an array of big ideas Seems like he's got all your progressive boxes checked!

🚨NEW POLL from @statenavigate.org VA-GOV | 🔵Spanberger +13 VA-LG | 🔵Hashmi +11 VA-AG |🔵Jones +5 VA-HoD Generic |🔵 Mary Radcliffe and I with the breakdown and takeaways statenavigate.org/state-naviga...

BTW, Youngkin's net-negative-1 (46%-47%) approval rating would be the worst of any VA governor at this point in their terms in the past few decades. It would also be one of the worst, if not the worst, gubernatorial approval ratings in the country. bluevirginia.us/2025/10/new-...

An Associated Press reporter observed dozens of agents detaining a street vendor selling bedazzled smartphone cases, one of a number of arrests in the area.

“Once my colleague pulled out his camera, the agent put away the gun," Huynh told the Sun-Times Tuesday night. "[But] if they can do this in broad daylight to an elected official, and point a gun at someone, imagine what’s happening behind closed doors.”

Here's the thing I don't understand. You can't as much as sneeze near a historic site in Washington without like 14 commissions, councils, and advisory boards giving you the okay. And everybody now is like...yup, fine with us? wtf?

Democrats should be drawing up legislation right now, this very minute, to bar Trump from helping himself to $230 million in taxpayer funds from DOJ. Challenge Republicans to hold a vote on it. Push this so hard in the media that every GOP Senate and House candidate is pressed to comment on it.

ICE is stockpiling arms, including chemical weapons, guided missile warheads and explosive components. The spending dwarfs anything we've ever seen in the agency - a 700% increase. The President is building an army to attack his own country.

A note for sports: Bluesky’s engagement rate was x10 higher than X’s across a sampling of identical posts made on both platforms by @rapsheet.bsky.social (sharing with permission) Fwiw we see a similar trend across all communities, not just sports. Real people, real conversations.

By a 2-1 opinion, the Ninth Circuit just held that the president can federalize the National Guard forces and deploy them when protesters shine flashlights in the eyes of ICE officers. It’s one of the most dangerous and legally flawed court decisions I’ve seen this year. 1/23

In 1925, Congress felt it needed to pass a joint resolution to authorize Grace Coolidge to accept gifts of furniture