Extra! Extra! 2/23 👏🏼👏🏼

A surprisingly long list of good news from the week!

Even the Post went after Trump this week.

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

Honestly, I had fun putting together today’s list—there was so much more good news that I’d expected! I even had to stop adding items because I was about to exceed Substack’s length limit. Crazy.

Look, I know it’s been another horrible week, but I swear I feel hopeful. Americans are rising up. Voices are getting louder. Protests are getting bigger. Dems are getting stronger. Republicans are getting…well, they’re getting an earful.

And progress, believe it or not, continues to be made across the country and world.

So take some time away from doomscrolling to enjoy—and share!—this list of the stuff that went well this week. And if you see that I missed something please pop it in the comments. This is how we give each other hope—and the strength to continue.

And continue we must. Because we’re going to win. I can feel it.

As usual, I’ve popped an 🪓 next to every item that everyday activists like you helped make happen, and a 🪣 next to every one that got done by lawmakers or administrations that we helped elect.

Read This 📖

This story about a community who rallied against racism and anti-immigrant rhetoric in South Lake Tahoe, CA gives me hope.

Celebrate This! 🎉

The International Refugee Assistance Program announced that they had filed lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s refugee suspension and to access immigrants held at Guantánamo Bay.

Canadian flag maker Flags Unlimited has doubled its sales in the past six weeks.

Country music star Sheryl Crow sold her Tesla and will donate the proceeds to NPR. 🪓

The GAO confirmed that it will pursue an investigation into how and why DOGE accessed the Treasury’s payment system. The GAO, it should be noted, was created by Congress and works for Congress – not the Executive Branch—so it is likely safe from cuts or erasure by Musk or Trump.

The Center for Taxpayer Rights and other orgs filed suit to prevent DOGE from having unfettered, unlawful access to personal and business data at the IRS.

Peaceful protests happened across the country on President’s Day. And the press covered them! 🪓

Democrats in Illinois' Congressional delegation said they are ready to “fight until hell freezes over” to protect federal programs that help the neediest Americans. 🪣

Americans’ approval of President Trump’s handling of the economy hit an all-time low, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Mitch McConnell announced that he won’t seek re-election. Buh-bye.

A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s administration from illegally firing Cathy Harris, chair of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit from a right-wing group seeking to limit early absentee voting sites. 🪣

AZ Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill which would limit where mail-in ballots can be returned and require voters who return mail ballots after the Friday before Election Day to provide photo ID. 🪣

Dominion Energy executives say they expect the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project to be completed and operational next year, despite efforts by the Trump administration to halt wind energy projects.

Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not by a ratio of more than 5 to 1.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) sued the Trump administration to unfreeze over $3 billion in federal funding for his state. 🪣

The CDC has restored a $257,000 contract for 9/11-related cancer research after DOGE tried to cancel it, officials say. Why? BLOWBACK! Nice work! 🪓

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), who sits in a safely red seat, got booed by constituents as he faced anger and pushback over his support for the Trump administration’s cost-cutting crusade in the federal government. 🪓

Four out of 10 Americans have already shifted their spending over the last few months to be more consistent with their moral views, according to a Harris poll. 🪓

States are moving forward with Buy Clean policies despite Trump’s roadblocks. 🪣

Ten new electric vehicle battery factories are on track to go online this year in the United States.

Bans on fur farming and public awareness of animal mistreatment have curbed the fur farming industry drastically. 🪓

Global sales of combustion engine cars have peaked!

Colorado Parks and Wildlife just acquired 120 acres to create the Michigan Creek State Wildlife Area.

The Episcopal Church has now fully divested from the fossil fuel industry.

The first rapid-acting insulin biosimilar product for diabetes treatment was approved by the FDA.

JetWind Power Corporation has installed first-of-its-kind Energy Capturing Pods at Dallas Love Field Airport. This technology is designed to capture aircraft-generated wind and transform it into renewable energy. Wow!

In Illinois, guns must now be surrendered to law enforcement in cases where an order of protection has been served, per a new gun safety measure signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker. 🪣

The nonprofit law firm Earthjustice just filed the first of what’s expected to be many lawsuits challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s efforts to expand fossil fuel production.

This video of CA Republican Rep Kevin Kylie getting booed is just…delicious. 🪓

Government employees have started a website to debunk the attacks on them! It’s at wethebuilders.org.

A volunteer network of residents is patrolling the streets of Los Angeles— from South Central to the Eastside—to warn communities of any potential ICE activity, offering a line of defense for families at risk of deportation. 🪓

The Trump administration is restoring jobs for some National Park Service employees fired amid government-wide reductions and hiring nearly 3,000 additional seasonal workers, following an uproar over an aggressive plan to downsize the agency. 🪓

Republicans faced raucous backlash at their Town Halls across the country this week. It wasn’t just in Georgia. People booed U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman as he walked into the Algoma Town Hall just outside Oshkosh. And here’s a summary of more. 🪓

The #TeslaTakedown movement is surging! (Don’t forget to check out teslatakedown.org!) 🪓

The president’s approval is now underwater.

Ex NFL punter Chris Kluwe got himself arrested for civil disobedience protesting at the Huntington Beach city council meeting, where the council was planning a “MAGA” display on a plaque at the library. He also made an unbelievably powerful statement, which you should really listen to. 🪓

The Supreme Court, in its first decision on President Trump’s use of executive power in his second term, ruled that he cannot, for now, remove a government lawyer who leads the watchdog agency that protects whistle-blowers.

Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in overtime to win the 4 Nations ice hockey competition.

The Philly Eagles have once again declined Trump’s invitation to the White House.

Republican lawmakers may be acting unconcerned publicly, but privately they’re freaking out over Trump and DOGE. Your calls are part of this! GOOD JOB! 🪓

The Associated Press is suing the Trump administration for access to presidential events, citing the First Amendment’s freedom of the press.

Local TV stations around the country have begun running human interest stories about veterans, members of military families or Trump supporters getting fired as part of Elon’s purge. [H/T Josh Marshall]

A federal appeals court declined to lift a block on Trump’s executive order to deny citizenship to some children born on U.S. soil.

Hundreds gathered outside the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, protesting the Trump administration's decision to slash jobs and budgets at multiple agencies. 🪓

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 59, a bipartisan bill that allows Arkansas schools to offer free breakfast to all public school students.

A new Economist and YouGov poll reveals that only small minorities want to cut the EPA or NWS. Americans, in fact, would rather cut or eliminate DOGE than the agencies it’s targeting.

NY Governor Kathy Hochul has promised to take the Trump Admin to court over its attack on congestion pricing. 🪣

Maine’s Governor Janet Mills also promised to “see Trump in court” over his Executive Order that would bar transgender student athletes from playing on girls' sports teams. As a nice coda, a “flash rally” happened spontaneously in Augusta today to thank her! 🪓 🪣

Americans bought 32% more heat pumps than the next-most-popular heating appliance, gas furnaces, last year. That smashes 2023’s record-setting lead of 21%.

Authors Against Book Bans defeated a book banning campaign in St. John’s County, FL—an extremely red part of the country. 🪓

Clean-energy technologies made up more than 10% of China’s economy in 2024 for the first time ever.

The parent company of Trump’s social networking site Truth Social says it lost $400.9 million last year and its annual revenue declined 12% to $3.6 million.

After nearly 50 years in federal prison, the 80-year-old Native American rights activist Leonard Peltier walked free on Feb. 18 after former President Joe Biden commuted his sentence in January. [H/T

The Lever

]

A federal judge in Maryland temporarily blocked key portions of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government and corporate America.

Retirees and unions sued to halt DOGE’s unprecedented seizure of personal, confidential, private and sensitive data from the Social Security Administration.

A new poll shows Democrats leading the 2026 Congressional ballot by 13 points.

Watch This! 👀

Found this on the Tennessee Holler’s page on Bluesky. Fantastic!