Author: Kara Hurvitz

Hi there! If you're reading this, you're probably wondering who I am and why you should listen to me. (It's a fair cop.) So here's a little about me: I'm an advocate, educator, and activist with degrees in law and social work. By day, I help people access needed health care and health care coverage. By night, I fight crime--nah, just kidding; I write the NNR and related essays. Why the NNR? Well, I want to do everything I can to help folks stay informed, connected, and empowered during this difficult time, and this project lets me put work I already do to good use. Plus, I get to snark about the news and current administration. Everyone wins!

Year 10, Weeks 3-4.5 (February 8-25)

February 26, 2026February 26, 2026 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

In my opinion, the main story about the State of the Union last night is how utterly trivial the State of the Union was – the biggest takeaway the press can collectively come up with is that it was the longest State of the Union in recent history, clocking in at 100 minutes. (That is 100 minutes longer than anyone should listen to that man bloviate.)

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be beginning my tenth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. At this point, NNR summaries will merely toe-dip into other topics, if that–we are committed to a focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news

Chinga La Migra

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Detention Dystopia. Hello, and welcome to the part of the NNR where I remind you just how bad things are with the U.S. detention system again. The administration broadened ICE “authority” this cycle to detain refugees who delay seeking a green card–an incredibly unhinged proposal even by this administration’s standards. Just to remind folks, definitionally, refugees are severely traumatized people who have entered the country legally after an extremely rigorous process, specifically because it is not safe for them personally to be in their home country. This would be bad enough, but it’s rendered even more malicious when you remember that this administration also stopped issuing green cards for any applicants from many different countries at the end of last year. And all of this is accompanied by increased stories in the news about ICE buying warehouses to create detention “mega-centers,” which presumably is where they plan to put all of these legally-present people. Thankfully, there were also some stories about locations that successfully blocked ICE from doing any such thing, and apparently some Dems in Congress plan to introduce a bill to block it as well.
Spotlight on ICE (again, still). There are yet again a lot of ICE-related stories this cycle, although admittedly some of them highlight just how fed up most of the country is. A former ICE instructor made news when he disclosed that the agency has systemically removed many much-needed guardrails from its onboarding process, including screening protocols and hundreds of hours of mandated training. There was another federal opinion about ICE illegally denying opportunities for release and holding detainees past when legally allowed–a process which is likely now easier because so many of the country’s immigration judges have been fired in the past year–NPR reports that two immigration courts have no judges at all. There is also a lawsuit being brought to make CBP stop pressuring unaccompanied minors to self-deport. Against that backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that New Jersey introduced the FUCK ICE Act and Chicago’s denizens chose ‘Abolish Ice’ as the name of their new snowplow.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

Poison Potpourri (again, still). By this point, I’m sure you’re as tired of reading about vaccine hell as I am of typing it–but we yet again have more updates. That said, this cycle has one silver lining–after the FDA refused to review Moderna’s flu vaccine application, they pulled a u-ie and decided to review it after all. I also have some new info for you, but it isn’t great–the CDC is again playing musical chairs because the Deputy Director resigned. The NIH director, Jay Bhattacharya, is apparently running the CDC for now as well? Which is vaguely terrifying, because this is the guy that pulled a bunch of research funding for funsies during 2025.
CDC staff changes:

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Dystopian DOJ. There was a lot of sketchy records-related news about this administration this week. Representative Pramila Jayapal was in the news for reporting that the Department of Justice was spying on her while she reviewed the Epstein files. And speaking of the DOJ and Epstein files, NPR is also reporting that the DOJ withheld records when they released the Epstein files because they implicated Trump in sexually abusing a minor. Finally, a federal judge ruled that the DOJ may not search a phone that they seized from a reporter’s home.
Shutdown Shuffle. Congress has not reached a deal for funding the Department of Homeland Security as I type this, and the department remains shut down. Before you get too excited, however, this is unlikely to impact ICE and CBP, which are still swimming in money after the Big Bullcrap Bill Act last year. Instead, it impacts other department programs like TSA and FEMA–which is likely why the administration tried to turn up the heat by canceling PreCheck for flights. (They then walked that back only a day or two later.)

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Recent Judicial Resilience. With so much of the country’s court systems being broken, it’s easy to forget how much the courts still impede the administration. We got a reminder of this over the past week when the Supreme Court decided to strike down Trump’s tariffs, leaving the administration fumbling and Trump himself spewing vitriol. Though they are attempting to impose new ones, it’s likely those will quickly be paused as well, and in the meantime everyone from Fed Ex to Costco is demanding refunds. And on the other side of the bench, a grand jury in DC refused to indict several federal Congresspeople who told troops they should ignore illegal orders. These glimmers of functionality matter, because they slow down or eliminate pieces of authoritarianism and buy time for longer-term strategies.

_{‘Discord That’s All Folks’ licensed to the public under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License}

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this unusual fetch session and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours of sleep!

On Performing, Joy, and Modern Activism

February 16, 2026 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

*_{^{Image taken from Piano Sonata No. 13 in E♭ major, Op. 27 No. 1, “Quasi una fantasia”, available in the public domain}}*

I have been a performer the vast majority of my life. Some of my earliest memories involve song or dance; I picked up my first instrument the second my school gave me the opportunity. By high school, I was in so many different fine arts groups that I didn’t bother with a lunch period – I just scarfed my food during the first ten minutes of choir. I did manage to calm the theater kid energy at least a little by the time I hit college, but I still sang, directed, acted, arranged. Even during law and grad school, the most chaotic and academically rigorous time of my life, I performed. It was part of me. It was who I was.

Yet as I moved deeper and deeper into activism in response to the 2016 election, my creative life grew sparser and sparser. After a staged reading and a children’s concert in January 2017, I stopped performing in public. Eventually, after my last collaborative album was released in January 2020, I stopped performing entirely. I was an advocate; a writer; a fighter. Creative art of all kinds became a thing I did for myself, in spare moments as I found them, and not a thing I shared with my communities. I told myself that for me, creative art was a form of self-care, akin to meditating or exercise. I told myself it was enough.

^{‘Sharpened Pencil Next to Sheet Paper’, created by the Thomaseagle,
available by Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license}

We talk a lot, these days, about the importance of joy in activism. We talk about the importance of community a lot as well–the need for solidarity in liberation; the value of mutual aid. I have even seen performances support mutual aid to great effect, through efforts like Theatre@First’s annual Giving@First festival. But somehow, I didn’t see a way to fit in performance arts alongside my own work. I didn’t know how to juggle creativity I loved with advocacy my communities needed.

Truthfully, I still don’t, but in the past year I have begun performing again anyway. I sang Hearthfire at a Bardic circle this summer; I sang the same song and several others at my first concert in nine years earlier today. Both times, I thought: I love this. I thought: This makes me feel human and connected.

Ultimately, what is performance? Performance creates a platform and it organically creates messaging, but it is more than that; it’s a way for people to share connection. An audience watches because something happening before them resonates; the audience and the performer form a temporary interpersonal relationship. Fandom, in turn, can create a longer-term community. But perhaps more uniquely, there is shared joy in creative performance. There is social power in creative performance. Show me a person who connects with an audience, and I will show you a person who creates agency of expression in a socially meaningful way. And frankly, they probably love what they are doing as they do it.

^{Unnamed image by Omtay and released to public domain}

When we say community and joy are necessary to movements–creative art and performance should be part of that, even for those of us who do this work full-time. (Perhaps especially for those of us who do this work full-time.) I shouldn’t be juggling social change and performance in the first place, because they are already linked. They enhance each other.

Instead, the questions to be asking are how to bring out social change themes in performance, and how to bring performance overtly into advocacy. Many of my colleagues–especially Black colleagues–already excel at this. To give recent examples, the AATCLC has been hosting spoken word poetry sessions about tobacco use since 2023; Brass Solidarity has been bringing marching bands to community action events since the George Floyd protests in 2021. But this tradition goes back more than fifty years, and Larry Neal famously described the Black Arts Movement as the “aesthetic and spiritual sister of Black Power” in 1968. Pairing art and activism, these efforts build something sustainable and important.

^{Image created by KeithTyler; clenched fist motif itself is in the public domain}

It’s not healthy activism to deny a part of oneself; that much I already knew. (I hope you, Dear Reader, already know it too.) But the idea I internalized today is that it does my work a disservice to even try. I still feel daunted by next steps, but I also feel energized. This is a form of community and joy that I can understand–that I believe many of us can understand. And I look forward to bringing these things to my work more in the coming year.

Year 10, Weeks 1-2 (January 25–February 7)

February 10, 2026 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Yes, you read that right–we’re now entering our tenth year of this song and dance. Things nobody tells you about your thirties, partial list: That you’ll run a weekly accessible news digest for literally all of them. Adulting, amirite?

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be beginning my tenth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. At this point, NNR summaries will merely toe-dip into other topics, if that–we are committed to a focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news

Chinga La Migra

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Nightmare in Minneapolis Continues. Though Trump announced that 700 ICE officers were leaving Minneapolis during this cycle, there are still thousands of officers there, and stories out of the city continue. A few outlets picked up a story about a man in ICE custody who presented to a local hospital with eight skull fractures on the front, back, and sides of his skull; the ICU staff were understandably extremely dubious when ICE officials claimed he ran into a wall. Public teachers in the city are also suing ICE to keep them out of schools, as their presence is resulting in student disappearances and forced truancy. And, of course, there was that U.S. Attorney who told a judge her job sucks and wanted to be held in contempt so that she could sleep. (Needless to say, she’s not working in Minneapolis anymore.)
Spotlight on ICE. There were a lot of ICE-related stories I wasn’t able to fit into the last cycle’s roundup, and several of them have since grown extra heads. There has rightfully been a lot of attention paid to children in detention this cycle, as Liam Conejo Ramos puts the issue firmly in the public eye. ProPublica ran a heartbreaking feature on children in Dilley Detention Center, many of whom are being illegally held for months on end; the piece details unsafe food and water, insufficient medical care, and gatekept education that only lasts an hour per day even when children do get in. Another ICE facility in Texas was in the news because of allegations that its officers are physically and sexually assaulting underage detainees. Yet another ICE facility in Texas was in the news for deporting witnesses who saw officers murdering a fellow detainee. And in Portland, Oregon–where ICE allegedly withdrew but locals report they are still there–a judge has restrained them from using tear gas for 14 days, because they keep assaulting tenants in nearby buildings and children at memorial services. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of Congressional pushes for accountability right now, and no long-term DHS funding bill has been passed despite another deadline coming up on Friday.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

There’s still a lot going on at DHHS, and all of it sucks. In the wake of his special, very smart “health plan,” Trump released a drug discount website, which literally just gives people coupons and tells them to go buy medications directly from drug companies. (Fun fact: Most of the drugs involved are also available as generics at a rate lower than the website can provide.) Meanwhile, in a truly unforeseeable turn of events, telling people not to vaccinate their kids has led to a massive measles outbreak in South Carolina–in fact, it has become the biggest outbreak we’ve seen since measles were eliminated in 2000. There is concern that a March for Life rally in DC at the end of January may have been a superspreader event, which has prompted head of CMS Mehmet Oz (God I hate typing that phrase) to tell people to vaccinate. This, however, has still not stopped the administration from going after COVID vaccines.

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Establishment vs Press. Former CNN anchor and investigative journalist Don Lemon was arrested for covering a protest at a church in Minnesota earlier this month–even though a magistrate threw out the administration’s attempt to issue misdemeanor charges, Bondi got a grand jury to indict him on nebulous felony charges. For context it’s very rare for a magistrate judge to refuse to issue a misdemeanor charge. In this case, it likely happened due to overwhelming evidence that this famous news person was exercising his First Amendment right to do news things about a developing story. (It turns out, when you’re an investigative journalist covering something, you often film the whole thing, and also tell the camera that you’re there covering something.) Folks, I’m sure many of you reading already know this, but I seriously cannot overstress just how unusual and disturbing this story is.
A Gabbard in Georgia. In other unusual and probably illegal news, the FBI conducted a search and seized records from election headquarters in Fulton, Georgia this week, claiming for the zillionth time that there was somehow election fraud even though literally nothing substantiates this claim. That would be bad enough, but Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was also there during the search because… reasons? Even (perhaps especially) if it’s true that Trump told her to, as she claims, it is both far beyond the Chief of Intelligence’s purview and an egregious abuse of power to have her participate in a domestic investigation like this–which is probably why Democrats Democrats demanded she explain her involvement. Meanwhile, Trump is demanding that Republicans “nationalize” voting and “the federal government should get involved.” Nobody’s really fully sure what that means, but we do know that federal involvement of any type is flagrantly unconstitutional. The running theory is that he’s referring to the SAVE Act, which both doesn’t do that and also is a terrible plan.

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Bad Bunny’s Superbowl Halftime Show. I am genuinely not kidding when I say that Bad Bunny’s Superbowl halftime show will help you push back the abyss for a little while–it was an incredible piece of activism. Yes, his set was entirely in Spanish, but I promise that it’s accessible and moving even if you don’t speak una palabra of the language. (Also, Lady Gaga pops up in the middle to sing some English at you.) It has compassion, it has joy, it even has a couple getting married (for real!) in the middle of it. Seriously, just go watch it. And then look up all of the cultural references that he and his consulting historian managed to squeeze in.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this daring dear rescue and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 9, Weeks 51-52 (January 11-24)

January 27, 2026January 27, 2026 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Minneapolis has been on most of our minds this month, for good reason. But the stories coming out of there are so big, that it can be hard to see how they interconnect. We’re going to spend some time looking at how this cycle’s stories link together–not because it makes the stories any easier to stomach, but because it’s important to see the bigger picture.

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be closing out my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not SAMHSA funding!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Nightmares in Minneapolis

‘_{‘RoboKruger’ by Si2productions, released to the public domain by its creator}

Murder Filmed in Broad Daylight. By now, most folks have likely heard about Renee Good, who was shot three times while leaving an ICE encounter in her car, and Alex Pretti, who was shot ten times after trying to help a fellow protester. Both cases are horrifying abuses of power, but it’s also important to note how the federal government is handling the aftermath. Both Good’s and Pretti’s murders were filmed from several angles, and these videos have become widely available–making it easy for Americans to form a clear understanding of events. Despite this, however, the federal government in both instances has issued narrative statements that wildly contradict the video footage, and in both instances there have been issues with federal officials destroying evidence. At least one FBI official resigned in protest because she was being pressured to drop a civil rights investigation into the ICE officer who killed Renee Good. The FBI instead opened an investigation into Good’s widow, because, I don’t know, reasons. (Several U.S. Attorneys resigned over the latter decision as well.) Meanwhile, in correspondence with Governor Walz, Attorney General Pam Bondi straight-up told him to hand over voter rolls if he wanted conditions to improve. And while all this was happening, an autopsy in Texas confirmed witnesses’ reports that a detainee in ICE custody was murdered by guards. It is extremely unlikely that he was the first homicide in custody.
Ongoing ICE Raids. To fully understand the Minneapolis murders, it’s also important to understand the context that Renee Good and Alex Pretti were protesting in the first place. This administration began occupying Minneapolis back in December, but their behavior has escalated badly in that time–and in the wake of Renee Good’s death, things have gotten worse, not better. Reports have come in of ICE kidnapping a five-year-old and using him as bait, harassing and even detaining local Indigenous people, harassing off-duty cops, stopping and dragging citizens out of cars to detain them, shooting people during arrests, and breaking down doors to gain entry to homes they claim they can enter without a warrant. Minnesota is suing the administration, and has already obtained a judicial order protecting peaceful protest–but Trump has responded by threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act and putting 1500 Army troops on standby. Governor Walz has mobilized the National Guard. Today we’re seeing signs that it might deescalate, but it’s still an ugly situation that is only made uglier by a second murder this week.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

Poison Potpourri. There were a lot of toxic odds and ends out of DHHS in the last couple of weeks as well. First Trump announced his “health plan,” which is less a health plan and more six buzzwords in a trench coat. We finalized our withdrawal from the World Health Organization, apparently sticking them with a large bill in the process. The CDC both froze and unfroze about $2B in funding for SAMHSA. And the CDC was also in the news because a high-up official opined that losing measles elimination status was “the cost of doing business,” which is definitely a phrase you want to hear come out of a public health official’s mouth.

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Manifest Fuckery (again, still). In “somehow I am still typing this” news, the fetid orange doubled down again on taking over Greenland during this cycle. After talks with the Danish Foreign Minister got him nowhere, he threatened to impose tariffs in an attempt to get his way. Neither the European Union nor international stock markets were amused by this development. Then just to cap everything off, he told Norway’s Prime Minister that he was doing all of this because he didn’t win a Nobel peace prize.
Targeting Political ‘Enemies’ (Minneapolis Edition). We’ve already discussed this administration’s horrifying occupation of Minneapolis above, but one aspect that doesn’t get as much air time is their ‘investigation’ targeting Tim Walz, the current governor of Minnesota, and Joseph Frey, the current mayor of Minneapolis–which then escalated to a grand jury for several other MN officials. They join a long list of political figures who are being threatened via federal investigation; the list also includes several Congresspeople, Federal reserve chair Jerome Powell, and New York Attorney General Leticia James.

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

5 Calls and Zoom Calls. In the wake of the state terror above, it’s hard to know how to respond. If you, like me, process this type of news through action, one obvious and relatively easy thing we can do is call our Congress people with specific legislative asks. 5 calls has several scripts about taking away ICE’s bloated budget, impeaching Kristi Noem, and investigating both Minneapolis murders. If you have a bit more time, you can also learn how to respond and protect community in dangerous situations with ICE through online trainings. You can also print and distribute Know Your Rights cards, or learn how to be a hotline verifier.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this beaver eating cabbage and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me responses to Out: The Community Survey!

Year 9, Weeks 48-50 (December 14–January 3)

January 6, 2026January 26, 2026 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

For most of the past few weeks, the big story in the news was the release of the Epstein files–or, more accurately, Trump’s obvious involvement therein and the executive reindeer games that kept many files hidden (even after the Congressionally-imposed deadline had passed). By the time that I’m typing this, however, the malignant Cheeto has raided Venezuela and kidnapped its (ostensible) President, and now nobody is really talking about the Epstein files. It’s funny how that works, isn’t it?

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an Epstein file!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Just Reminding You That 47 Is A Criminal. With everything else going on, you would be forgiven for missing anything that wasn’t Epstein or Venezuela. But I’m here to tell you that you should feel particularly blameless about missing that a transcript of prosecutor Jack Smith’s House-mandated testimony was released–on December 31, 2025. (For those of you playing the home game, Jack Smith was the special counsel who indicted Trump for insurrection and illegal possession of documents, and he’s currently under investigation for… doing that.) Unsurprisingly, much of Smith’s testimony boiled down to “yes, I was really really sure that Trump was guilty of things when I did my job and prosecuted him,” and here we all are. And on the subject of spray-tanned criminality, as I noted above, 47 was also in the news for much of the cycle because he pops up in the Epstein files over and over.
Manifest Fuckery. As mentioned above, the big bombshell of the last few days is that our government just done abducted Nicolás Maduro, the extremely sketchy dude who has been running Venezuela for a third term since a questionable election in 2024. There’s little question that the abduction was illegal, and extreme even against the U.S.’s less-than-stellar history in places like Iraq and Panama. Trump also took the unusual step of straight-up saying all the quiet parts out loud, between claiming that the U.S. would ‘run’ Venezuela and noting that the whole thing was about seizing oil–which we had the grace to at least pretend wasn’t true during the Iraq Wars. Now that Maduro is in New York awaiting federal arraignment for narco-terrorism, Trump is also talking about attacking Colombia and stealing Greenland from Denmark (again).
Goodbye, National Guard. One highlight of the current news cycle is that the Supreme Court told Trump, in essence, to get the National Guard out of Dodge. (And by Dodge, I mean Illinois.) Trump has withdrawn troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, and is trying to play it off like he just decided to leave one day, which is hilarious to watch. He’s of course threatening to come back again at some undisclosed later date, and that’s certainly possible, but for now, it’s a win.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

Not Evidence Based (Again, Still). We remain in vaccine hell as I type this, and boy howdy am I tired of telling you that. The new exciting ramification of vaccine rates falling below herd immunity levels is more whooping cough in small children. Naturally, this administration didn’t let that stop them from slashing vaccine recommendations for said children just today, from 17 mandated vaccinations down to 11. The vaccines no longer required are those that cover flu, hepatitis A, rotavirus and meningococcal disease. For funsies, they’re deciding this as flu-like illness reaches an all-time high, thanks to a new variant called Subclade K. (In case you are someone who needs to hear this, by the way, yes, the flu shot is still worth something against new variants like this.)

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Stay Human, Shape Tomorrow. This isn’t the first time I’ve pointed folks towards Paul Shattuck‘s excellent writings on what he calls Strategic Humanism, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. This particular cycle, I want to draw attention to a recent post about what he calls “circuit-breakers” for doom scrolling–a useful skill for basically all of us when something bombastic like this past news cycle happens. HIs post has a good amount of more specific information, but in essence, he talks about a combination of ways to take breaks with intentionality and ways to ground yourself in your current place and time. If you’re in a hurry, here are some concrete suggestions he gives:

Look away from your screen and name five objects in the room.
Turn off your phone and put it in a drawer for one hour.
Set a 3-minute timer and step away.
Pick one corner of your physical space and restore it for two minutes.
Text someone.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and the wait did not improve anything. For making it through, you deserve Minion’s opinions and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my org’s handy-dandy survey measuring health throughout 2025 will be live until 1/31, and it only takes a half hour of your time to make the science go. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me responses to Out: The Community Survey!

Year 9, Weeks 46-47 (November 23–December 6)

December 11, 2025 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

I’m going to be honest, I found this cycle particularly nightmarish. Granted, I’m a public health professional, and our health system took a real beating this week–but the other stories aren’t a whole lot better. Caveat emptor, and I’m sorry in advance.

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a healthcare subsidy!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Subdued Subsidies. The Senate is ostensibly gearing up to vote on healthcare subsidies, but nobody is particularly optimistic that this will save ACA subsidies as we knew them. The White House quietly circulated a plan behind closed doors that would have accomplished this, with some concessions. But after Republicans balked, they backed down from announcing it pretty quickly, preferring instead to let the GOP duke it out. Now, several different Dem bills are in play, but literally none of them are expected to get the numbers they need to pass. Meanwhile, the things that Republicans are floating are less “health plans” and more “medical debt in flimsy trench coats”–some Republican plans involve $7K deductibles, while others are based on Health Savings Accounts and/or limited to catastrophic coverage. Needless to say, this is not great for Americans, and frankly it’s not great for the GOP either, since Dem narratives about the GOP wrecking affordability are gaining increasing traction with voters. That said, “this is good for nobody and yet here we are” has more-or-less become the MAGA calling card, and so, well…here we are.
Kangaroo Courtside. This was a real banner cycle for court cases. The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case about whether people born here have U.S. citizenship, despite the fact that, you know, the Constitution literally says that all persons born here have U.S. citizenship. For an encore, they heard oral arguments on a case about whether Trump should be able to fire the head of the FTC on account of it’s Tuesday–and shock of shocks, the six conservative justices appeared persuaded even though we have 90 years of precedent otherwise. But in slightly more positive judicial news, at least a court ordered the release of another cache of Epstein documents.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

Not Evidence Based (Again, Still). After the last news cycle, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that we’re already seeing vaccines on the chopping block–but somehow, I still am. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices decided a few days ago to nix a thirty-year recommendation of giving infants Hep B vaccination at birth, apparently persuaded by RFK’s pet anti-vax lawyer. Needless to say, people who practice actual medicine are not best pleased, with the American Association of Immunologists urging the CDC head to ignore the recommendations and Senate Health Committee chair Bill Cassidy calling the entire committee “totally discredited.” In response, Trump ordered RFK and acting CDC director Jim O’Neill to axe more childhood vaccinations. Meanwhile, a leaked FDA memo used the very small risk of COVID vaccine-induced myocarditis to argue for stricter regulation of vaccine approvals, despite the fact that, you know, myocarditis is way more common as a long COVID symptom. The memo comes as yet another FDA official walks after only three weeks on the job, citing the new FDA head’s mismanagement of policy as his reason. So all of that is… not great.

Chinga La Migra

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Immigration Rundown. Immigration, ho boy, where do I start… We really saved the worst for last on this one. Here are the lowlights from this cycle:

Hegseth Horrorshow – News came out this cycle that the order given by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth regarding the strike on a Venezuelan vessel was “kill everybody,” and a second strike was fired at two survivors to comply with that order. This is, unsurprisingly, pretty illegal, and officials are giving garbled explanations while Democrats are calling for a hearing. Trump initially agreed to release a video of the strike, and then walked that back within a week, saying “Whatever Hegseth wants to do is OK with me.”
Grave National Guard Gestalt – Two National Guard members in West Virginia were shot, one of them fatally, at the top of this news cycle. After the shooter turned out to be an Afghan refugee, the Trump administration announced that it would no longer process asylum, citizenship, or green card applications from nineteen different countries. They also dramatically shortened work permit windows for asylum holders and are reportedly considering a travel ban for 30 different countries. Several ideas floated by various MAGA sociopaths are even more extreme, ranging from mass denaturalization to a permanent end of all asylum applications to ending TPS as a concept.
Deportation Pipeline Press – There was, unsurprisingly, also a lot of news about various abuses of the deportation process. Democrats are trying to get standards imposed for who can serve as an immigration judge, since Trump keeps firing judges who actually judge. Federal immigration raids–excuse me, “operations”–are also beginning in New Orleans and Minneapolis, the latter being part of a weird hate-on that Trump has for Somali people. This news comes at the same time as reports that nearly 1,000 migrants arrested in DC–making up about 80% of total arrests during the “crackdown”–had no criminal record whatsoever. The ACLU is alleging that detained Cuban migrants were beaten for refusing removal to Mexico. Finally, there was a baffling story this cycle about this administration bringing a woman to the U.S. to face charges after years of extradition efforts, and then starting deportation proceedings against her on the theory that she was present in the U.S. illegally. It’s like the plot of Brazil, except instead we’re trying to deport people there.

Ways to Weather This

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Chop Wood, Carry Water. I was recently pointed towards Jess Craven’s Chop Wood, Carry Water by the inimitable Tegan Kehoe, who featured the substack in a recent Links and Things from Tegan (alongside the NNR, which I greatly appreciated!). As Kehoe notes, Craven sends a brief newsletter every weekday with some information about recent national news. That said, I’m featuring Chop Wood, Carry Water here because she also includes tools for taking action about those stories, such as scripts for calling your reps and information about upcoming events. Like me, Craven is a full-time activist and advocate, and so far I have really appreciated her work.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, a day late but only $0.25 short. For making it through, you deserve this raccoon’s self-care regimen and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me responses to Out: The Community Survey!

Year 9, Weeks 44-45 (November 9-22)

November 25, 2025November 25, 2025 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This cycle was a weird one, y’all–even setting aside the weird Epstein file about-face and MTG’s mud-slinging resignation, there’s a lot to unpack here. The news felt a bit like living in 2017, if 2017 involved more overt death threats. Ah, memories.

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an indictment!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

The Prosecution Rests (on Nothing). James Comey had a good time this week, and honestly, I love that for him. First on Wednesday, the Justice Department admitted that the grand jury never saw the final version of the indictment they allegedly approved. That’s a prosecutorial no-no and probably grounds for dismissal all by itself (though the judge on the case didn’t agree). But then just today, a different federal judge dismissed the criminal charges against both Comey and Leticia James on the incredible grounds that the lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was not a valid U.S. attorney in the first place. It was a dismissal without prejudice, so I’m sure we haven’t heard the end of this, but let’s enjoy dunking on Lindsey Halligan while we can.
Death Threats and Deployments. This story, ye gods. Okay, so, several sitting Democrats with military and intelligence experience made a video last week and posted it on Facebook. The video reminded current military and intelligence personnel that they can, and should, refuse illegal orders. Trump, meanwhile, immediately illustrated why they needed to make said video, by going on Truth social and yelling that making the video was–and I quote here–“punishable by death.” Now several of said reps are requesting a police investigation into our current President, on account of he made unhinged posts threatening to hang them. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is going after another of the six, Senator Mark Kelly, who is the only one still subject to potential court martial as a retired officer. As if underlining the point, while all of this was going on, a D.C judge granted an injunction to make Trump stop deploying the National Guard there because–shock of shocks–it’s probably illegal. And the Coast Guard was in the news for deciding that swastikas and nooses were not hate symbols anymore (though in fairness, the Coast Guard did walk that one back pretty quick after everybody rightfully got in their face about it).

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

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Not Evidence Based. The CDC was back in the news this week for suggesting in its official publications that vaccines can cause autism, despite the giant pile of evidence that says otherwise. Just today, RFK announced that this was done on his direct order, and I know personally I am shocked–just shocked!–by this unforeseeable information. Needless to say, this dramatically undermines what credibility the CDC still had left, and could potentially forecast less access to vaccines in the future. I recommend you hug the public health professionals in your life, friends, because despite being a predictable turn of events, it’s still a deeply disturbing thing to watch unfold.

Chinga La Migra

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Swept Up in Violence. It was a real banner time for immigration news this cycle. The likely illegal strikes on alleged drug vessels are still ongoing, with 82 people killed in 21 strikes at the time that I type this–and increasing evidence that at least some of those casualties were civilians. The administration also announced that they want to expand penalties faced by immigrants for using life-saving benefits like Medicaid and SNAP. And to cap everything off, raids in Charlotte swept up 370 people over a 5-day period, which naturally included U.S. citizens, because of course it did.

Ways to Weather This

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OUT: The Community Survey. Some of you have heard me talk about this effort before, but I’m really excited to say more about it here–I’m leading international volunteer work right now that I really believe will help LGBTQIA+ lives long-term. A week and change ago, my organization officially launched a study to get more info on how queer people’s lives have changed since the U.S. Inauguration, and what the current levels of oppression are doing to our health and safety. Right now, and for ten more weeks, we’re hosting an anonymous community survey to measure that.

It’s open to everyone fifteen and older who identifies as LGBTQIA+ or loves someone who does, throughout the entire world. There is no payment or personal benefit of any kind connected to this survey, and we plan to make the results publicly available. It’s rooted in the simple idea that if we know what people need, we know how to advocate and how to meet this moment for our communities. I mention this under the ‘Ways to Weather This’ section because I truly believe that it’s a form of resilience to share what you are going through and to connect with others about your health and emotional safety. But also, we want it to reach as many people as possible, and we’re relying on volunteer partners and word-of-mouth to get the word out.

If you’re reading this, I urge you to share how this moment is affecting you by taking the survey; we’re also still looking to partner with people and groups who have interest in spreading the word. Please feel empowered to forward the link and these materials, and if you have any interest in partnering, give me a quick ping and we’ll make that happen.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and boo on this cycle for making me kind of miss 2017. For making it through, you deserve this pupper’s learning journey and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 9, Weeks 42-43 (October 26–November 9)

November 13, 2025 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

I won’t lie, this news cycle made me want to throw things out my window. I didn’t, mind you, but if the past several days made you want to throw things also, just know that you’re not alone. Defenestration solidarity!

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a government shutdown!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Shutdown Shanda. Ho boy, where do we even start on this one. After a forty-three day shutdown, which was in fact the longest in U.S. history, seven Democrats and one Independent Senator voted to reopen the government on Monday in exchange for… ::checks notes:: ..a promise that the Senate would vote on whether to extend ACA tax credits in December. Not a promise that both bodies would vote, mind you, and not a promise to extend at a later date. Just a promise that the Senate would hold some kind of vote on this at some point. And if that sounds meaningless to you, that’s because it is, which Rep Brownley (D-CA) just went ahead and said point-blank. It was made at an impressively bad time as well–which we’ll talk more about below. But the House passed their version this evening, so the shutdown will be over once Trump signs the bill into law. I guarantee we haven’t seen the last of this issue or the shutdown pain, but at least people will ostensibly get their SNAP benefits again.
Illegal Targeting of ‘Enemies’ (Who Then Target Trump Back). This was a wild cycle for political punishment, especially in the court arena. The malignant pumpkin extended National Guard deployment in DC through February, and is planning to send them to more places as ‘reaction forces.’ He’s also appealing his felony convictions on the legal basis of, I dunno, vibes. In a somewhat ironic twist, his administration simultaneously attempted to indict a guy with felony assault because the man threw a sandwich. (Spoiler: It didn’t work, because a hoagie isn’t a felony, it’s a hoagie.) And in non-court but certainly politically targeted news, the House reconvening also means that Rep. Adelita Grijalva was finally sworn in, which in turn means that the vote to release the Epstein files happened, and they were in fact released. I bet you will be shocked–just shocked!–to learn that Trump is in fact implicated by said files. More specifically, Epstein noted that Trump “knew about the girls” and “spent hours at [his] house” with a specific alleged victim. I think it’s safe to conclude that this will remain messy, at least in the near future.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

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Shutdown Spillover. As alluded to above, the SNAP situation during the shutdown was getting extremely ugly. After benefits expired on November 1, the administration went out of its way to make sure this caused a pain point, even going so far as to sue to stop states from giving relief while Democrats caused to be allowed to disburse funds. A federal court ordered the administration to release funds, which resulted in a Supreme Court stay on that order and the Trump administration telling states to “undo” any disbursements already made under the first order, because they were now “unauthorized.” That SCOTUS stay on disbursement, and the resulting chaos, very likely played a role in the Senate capitulation.

Queer By(lines) For the Straight Guy

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A Mixed QUILTBAG. Queer news was kind of all over the place this cycle. On the one hand, the Supreme Court removed a protective stay that allowed Americans to change the sex markers on their passports again (booooo). But on the other hand, that same Supreme Court also declined to hear the Kim Davis case challenging same-sex marriage, which hopefully means we’re finally done hearing from Kim Davis (yaaaay). All told, not the worst cycle we’ve had under this regime, but it isn’t the best one, either.

Ways to Weather This

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(Legal) Election Rejection. The Senate deal timing was frustrating for a lot of reasons, but a big one was the Election Day of last Tuesday. Overwhelmingly, election results skewed in favor of Democrat leadership, with Dems overperforming even in states as red as Mississippi. The election results as well as related polls show a country that is very frustrated with the Trump agenda and with Trump personally, even among voters who supported both in the 2024 election. While it’s aggravating to watch the Leopard Face Eating Party lose membership only after a massive spree of leopard snacking, it’s nonetheless important to note that these trends are occurring; they create the potential for activation efforts to gain more traction.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, a day late but only $0.25 short. For making it through, you deserve this enthusiastic but confused doggo and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me congratulations on getting my biologic again!

Year 9, Weeks 40-41 (October 12-25)

October 28, 2025 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This cycle felt like the second half of a two-part episode, though I can’t claim the second verse was better than the first. We’re seeing a lot of continuations and recurrent themes; many things are stalled out or still careening off-course. I am hoping we’ll see at least some changes in the next cycle, but I’ll keep folks posted either way.

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an emolument!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Shutdown Takedown. By now, it’s pretty apparent that this is not an ordinary shutdown. We’re on the 27th day as I type this–and fun fact, 45 broke a Presidential record in overall shutdown days during this news cycle. The administration has continued to use the cover of the shutdown to shutter programs through myriad reductions in force, despite a federal judge issuing a court order to prevent them. Meanwhile, the Senate has voted twelve times on resolutions with no, well, resolution; they also failed to pass a bill that would pay federal workers. The House isn’t even in session, which also means that Rep-elect Adelita Grijalva still has not been sworn in. Cheeto Hitler has made it clear that he will not meet with Congress until the shutdown is over. Federal workers largely have missed a full pay period at this point, with about 1.4 million people stuck trying to make ends meet (though the military is still getting paid). But this shutdown is starting to have real and lasting impacts on the whole country–more about that below.
Illegal Targeting of ‘Enemies’ (Again, Still). It is maddening that I can summarize this cycle’s political targeting news as “more of the same,” but here we are. Our fast food Fuhrer has appealed to SCOTUS to pretty please let him invade Illinois, despite appeals courts saying he can’t. A 9th circuit panel initially gave him the green light to invade Portland, but that decision was promptly walked back by the full court. Separately, an Illinois judge ruled that ICE has to wear body cameras, which I’m sure they’ll follow scrupulously. Finally, prior Trump affiliate John Bolton became the next guy thrown on the indictment train, while Leticia James pled not guilty.
Presidential Engriftment. We also learned this cycle that Trump’s tacky gilded ballroom plans have caused the full demolition of the East Wing of the White House. This feels like a metaphor for this administration on several levels–not least because he lied about it not happening, because it’s probably illegal, and because the East Wing is where the First Lady’s office traditionally sits. But the brazen act does legitimately have a lot of totalitarian implications, as Paul Krugman rightfully notes. It’s not made better by the fact that Trump publicly demanded that the Department of Justice pay $230M to him personally in the same week. It doesn’t take a very stable genius to know that this type of demand is patently illegal, especially when the “slight” in question was him being indicted 43 times–in fact, it is blatantly unconstitutional.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

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Shutdown Spillover. As mentioned above, the shutdown is very tied to Americans’ health. First of all, the official Democrat reason for the shutdown in the first place is to force a vote to extend COVID-era protections, which in turn will allow the 24 million people on ACA marketplace insurance to avoid their insurance premiums skyrocketing. But that strategy hinges in part on getting a deal brokered before before open enrollment starts on November 1, and Republicans are refusing to negotiate at all until the government reopens. As a result, insurance costs are already rising. (Weirdly, Marjorie Taylor Greene remains pissed about that, presumably because it impacts her family.) We hit another extremely concerning benchmark on November 1 as well, because at least half the country will lose access to food benefits on that date–at a time when food prices are constantly rising. This is both particularly dangerous and particularly galling, because the White House could authorize emergency funding but instead they are just illegally blaming Democrats on government websites.

Chinga La Migra

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Cold as ICE. ICE was in the news a lot this cycle for being several different flavors of horrifying. In Chicago, they tear-gassed a school while CBP raided a children’s Halloween parade. In Florida, an overtly racist ICE agent threatened a police officer with a targeted immigration check because said officer was arresting him for DUI and child endangerment. In general, ICE has killed 20 people in custody so far this year, which is its highest mortality rate in twenty years. And just to cap it off, the administration made it very clear that they’re going to keep killing Venezuelans on both land and sea.

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

No Kings Debrief. This is admittedly a continuation from the previous roundup, but I believe it’s important to recognize the mark that No Kings made. The best estimate is that nearly seven million people attended, making it unquestionably one of the largest single-day protests in U.S. history. There were over 2,700 distinct events around the U.S. and in several other countries. At least here in Boston, I can also confirm that Operation Inflation was out in full force–in my time on the Commons, I saw four chickens, a pig, two cows, a unicorn, a T-rex, and two Lobsters Against Mobsters. It was a joyful rallying point, which I think many of us sorely needed–in times like these, joy itself is a radical act.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and though the format is improved, the news is not. F
or making it through, you deserve candied Cheez-its and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me my biologic because not having it sucks!

Year 9, Weeks 38-39 (September 28 – October 11)

October 13, 2025 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Good evening, and welcome to another episode of Why Is Our Country Like This? I wouldn’t say the news is worse than it was two weeks ago, but it certainly isn’t better. I think it’s fair to say that there’s still a need for the NNR, so, hello again from Fash News land.

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a government shutdown!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Shutdown Takedown. As I’m sure most of the folks reading this are aware, we did indeed go into a shutdown on October 1, and we’re on the thirteenth day of it as I type this. And shocking no one, the administration has jumped at the chance to break things, so there’s a lot of mess to sort through. Right out of the gate, official government websites started blaming ‘Democrats’ and ‘the radical left’ for disrupted government functioning, which is a blatant violation of the Hatch Act but I guess we’re not doing that anymore. (Fun fact: My research on an unrelated matter yesterday took me to the Department of Health and Human Services page, which sure does still reference the ‘Democrat-led shutdown’ as soon as you open it.) It didn’t get better from there, as the administration left ICE functions in place but took the opportunity to close the agency’s oversight office. We also started immediately seeing airport delays because traffic controllers were so thin on the ground–traffic controllers are essential workers, but many already-overwhelmed workers have been calling in sick. And I honestly can’t blame them, because the administration has signaled that it isn’t going to pay government workers for their essential work performed once the shutdown ends–which is also blatantly illegal under a 2019 law, despite these ghouls claiming otherwise. As foretold by prophecy, they took the opportunity to lay off a ton of people, also likely illegally, which I’ll talk more about below. Needless to say, these developments didn’t make Democrats less inclined to filibuster, and the House bill has now failed to advance in the Senate at least seven times.
Terrifying Terrorism Designations. I’m sure everyone reading this is aware of the death of Charlie Kirk, and much of the resulting First Amendment horrorshow—Jimmy Kimmel‘s suspension saga and subsequent return to most stations was particularly well-covered. What might be less obvious, however, is how much of a turning point the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s death turned out to be for how the administration engages with political enemies. Almost immediately, we started to see the administration issue statements implicating trans people and ‘trans ideology,’ without specifying what that even meant. That eventually broadened to speaking about ‘leftist ideology‘ when it became apparent that the shooting had no direct ties to transgender anything beyond the alleged shooter having a transgender roommate. These messages continued to iterate and deepen, as did anti-trans rhetoric, until reports began emerging that the FBI plans to designate trans people as ‘violent extremists’. In apparent response to the FBI’s plan, the Oversight Project at the Heritage Foundation (you know, the people responsible for making Project 2025 become real policy) issued a frightening directive pushing for a new form of domestic terrorism designation called ‘Trans Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism,’ which they proposed include things like speech in defense of trans people. Almost immediately, we saw the administration take this ball and start to run with it, first by issuing an executive order that designated Antifa as a domestic terrorism organization. A few days after that, the administration released a memo which stated they would “disband and uproot” nonprofits and institutions that “engage in activities that support domestic terrorism,” including “conspiracies against rights” in that definition. The same day, the administration announced a criminal investigation of George Soros’s human rights foundation Open Society. Dovetail this with Bondi’s recent statements, also in the wake of Kirk’s death, that the DOJ will “go after you. . . if you are targeting anyone with hate speech, anything,” and you start to see a pretty scary picture.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

HHS Layoffs. As mentioned above, the administration has taken its current shutdown as an opportunity to start laying off nearly 4,000 more government workers. Of that number, over 1,000 people receiving RIFs work in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from offices that handle outbreak prevention, immunization, chronic disease, and other very critical areas of health. This is made even more confusing, however, by the fact that some of those RIFs were rescinded, as they were apparently sent in error. All of this just happened at the top of this weekend, so reports are still pretty muddled, but I’ll try to circle back with more specifics once I have them.

Queer By(lines) For the Straight Guy

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Just Say Yes to Torture. SCOTUS is back in session, and heard arguments this past week on a case called Chiles v. Salazar, which alleges that a Colorado law banning conversion therapy is unconstitutional because it infringes on the plaintiff’s freedom of speech and religion. Folks, I am literally not exaggerating in the slightest when I note that conversion therapy, though it can be a “talk therapy” in the strictest sense of the term, has been classified as torture under United Nations metrics which measure such things by UN experts. There is overwhelming evidence that the practice increases suicidality of LGBTQI+ people. So the fact that the current Supreme Court appeared to buy the plaintiff’s arguments this week is, frankly, terrifying. This is like the court agreeing that a Stephen-King-worshipping woman has shown how laws prohibiting chaining people to beds and breaking their legs violates her Constitutional right to reenact Misery.

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

No Kings on October 18. I believe it has become increasingly important for people to have tools to get through these difficult times. As a result, I’m trying out a new section to cover forms of activism, resilience, and health best practices. This cycle, I’m spotlighting No Kings, an internationally-coordinated protest effort happening this upcoming Saturday in cities around the world. (While I included that organizing link because it has information about individual city events, incidentally, I encourage you to avoid ‘RSVP’ing to a protest in the current climate.) Protests are both an important form of resistance and a strong form of solidarity, which is vital for navigating our current moment. This particular protest is a reiteration of a June protest that drew over 5 million people, and it likely will draw even more this time. That said, it’s important to understand that this one might not feel the same, because conditions are much worse now than they were four months ago. There is psychological weight to that, as Paul Shattuck notes in his excellent ‘No Kings Field Kit’, which I strongly recommend people read. I particularly agree with his observation that Saturday is “mile 7 of a marathon most of us didn’t train for.” We’re all in this together, and it will not be fixed overnight, but actions like Saturday are still worth it. And, as I mentioned last time, these protests are one part of a much richer ecosystem of social change.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve a toke from this shofar and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out formatting and sustainability, and I would find feedback in the National News Roundup ask box particularly helpful this week (though it is always there for your constructive comments). Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me Tylenol because this headache sucks!