Extra! Extra! 4/16 🎊
Hi, all! Happy Sunday!
In spite of the mayhem, it’s been a pretty good week—a week that proved over and over again that when we join together, use our voices, and show up in strength we can stop the tide of Republican damage and, in some cases, turn it back on those who created it.
Enjoy this list. Savor it. Know that if you subscribe to this newsletter and take any of our actions you helped create it.
I’m proud of you. I celebrate you. I believe in you.
And folks, you’re just getting started.
Read This 📖
Right-wing judges may cripple the GOP.
Also this: Republicans are losing the culture war…badly.
Celebrate This! 🎉
The Biden-Harris Administration announced new investments for water-saving projects and other conservation efforts in the Colorado River Basin that will immediately yield hundreds of thousands of acre-feet in water savings.
The governor of New Mexico signed a bill into law that eases the automatic expungements of marijuana convictions.
Chuck Jenkins, the longtime sheriff of Maryland's Frederick County, was indicted last week for conspiring to acquire machine guns for a shooting range. Jenkins is a far-right official who has long crusaded against immigrants in his jurisdiction.
The Washington state Senate passed a law to ban the sale and manufacture of assault weapons. Only a few states have passed such a ban, which would impact future firearms sales like the ones used in the recent mass shootings in Nashville and Louisville.
Nashville’s metropolitan council unanimously voted to reappoint Justin Jones to the Tennessee State House. Jones was one of the three members of the House who were expelled last week for participating in a gun violence protest.
The unemployment rate for Black Americans has hit a record low of 5%, “a testament to the economic recovery” since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Executives at over 250 pharmaceutical and biotech companies—including the chief executives of Pfizer and Biogen—signed onto a letter supporting the FDA and condemning Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling banning mifepristone, which they called on to be reversed.
Governor Newsom of California signed legislation this week that will require unprecedented transparency from oil companies. The law is the first in the nation that attempts to bar Big Oil from inflating gasoline prices, blaming those increases on government regulations, and using its profits to block environmental climate policies.
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that West Virginia's approval of a section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline was "arbitrary and capricious." This ruling further delays the completion of the MVP, if it is ever completed at all.
Washington just became the 10th State to give fleeing trans people protection from other states. In the past week, both New Jersey and Colorado also passed similar laws or signed executive orders.
Massachusetts is joining the list of Democratically-led states stockpiling mifepristone, the abortion pill at the center of a federal court dispute.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking to stop Rep. Jim Jordan from what the prosecutor said is a “brazen and unconstitutional attack” by members of Congress on the prosecution and investigation of former president Donald Trump.
The U.S. is providing more funding to build wildlife crossings over busy roadways, a move officials hope will reduce animal casualties and improve their access to open lands.
The Biden administration on Thursday proposed a new regulation to significantly reduce hazardous air pollutants from chemical plants, a move that environmental advocates predicted would significantly reduce the health risks to people living near industrial sites.
A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court has unanimously ruled that the funding mechanism Congress created for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is, in fact, constitutional -- thereby throwing a wrench into the plans of a coalition of right-wingers and predatory lenders who are trying to destroy the agency.
The Biden administration proposed the nation’s most ambitious climate regulations to date, two plans designed to ensure two-thirds of new passenger cars and a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the United States are all-electric by 2032.
The Biden administration is updating the nation’s main health privacy law to offer stronger legal protections to people who obtain abortions in their state or who cross state lines for the procedure, as well as their doctors and loved ones.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted to send recently expelled state Rep. Justin Pearson back to the Tennessee General Assembly. The commissioners voted 7-0 to reappoint Pearson, though the remaining six Republican commissioners did not attend the meeting.
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a regulation that would make nearly 600,000 DACA recipients eligible for government-subsidized health insurance programs.
The judge in the Dominion defamation case against Fox sanctioned the network for failing to turn over evidence in discovery.
The Biden administration unveiled nearly $300 million in funding from its signature infrastructure law for nine bridge projects across the country, officials said.
Missouri is making period products free in schools so students don't have to miss class.
Llano County, Texas will keep its libraries open after leaders considered shutting them down in the wake of a federal judge’s order to replace 17 banned books on their shelves.
On Thursday, the Republican-controlled Arizona House voted 46 to 13 to expel state Rep. Liz Harris (R) over ethics violations relating to election misinformation.
Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes launched a new unit focused on reproductive rights and abortion access. 1
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill has introduced legislation to curb "judge shopping." 2
Gov. Jared Polis signed 3 bills into law expanding Colorado’s protections for abortion and transgender care. The bills will increase access to health care services, protect patients and providers, and regulate crisis pregnancy centers.
NPR and PBS have stopped using Twitter after Twitter owner Elon Musk labeled the organizations as “government-funded media” in an apparent attempt to demonize both funding of the programs and undermine their credibility.
A rewilding charity just purchased its first plot of land as part of its plan to establish a nature reserve in every English county. Heal’s new £5.25 million site will tackle the nature and climate crises while creating new jobs and facilities for local people.
Global sales of heat pumps grew by 11% in 2022, according to the latest IEA analysis, marking a second year of double-digit growth for the central technology in the world’s transition to secure and sustainable heating.
The Biden-Harris Administration announced a strengthened whole-of-government approach disrupt the trafficking of illicit fentanyl and its precursors into American communities.
MSNBC released new audio of Rudy Giuliani admitting to Fox News’ host Maria Bartiromo that he had difficulty backing claims of Dominion Voting Systems’ involvement in election fraud.
Jack Smith is reportedly investigating whether the Trump campaign broke any laws by using false claims about voter fraud to raise more than $200 million in the months after the 2020 election.
Two Cochise County supervisors who resisted certifying results in the November election are on the hook for $37,000 in legal and court fees.
Tina Peters – the former clerk of Mesa County, Colorado, and the state’s most prominent 2020 election denier – was sentenced by a judge Monday to home detention and community service after she was found guilty last month of obstructing a government operation.
A Denver jury convicted a 52-year-old man of retaliating against an elected official for threatening Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold in a phone call to the Democrat’s office. Retaliation against an elected official is a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to four years in prison and/or a fine of $100,000. Wertz was tried under a state law passed in 2021 that made it a crime to threaten elected officials.
The EPA announced 17 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers that will receive $177 million to help underserved and overburdened communities across the country access funds from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
The Biden Administration announced funding to expand equitable access to tree canopies and green spaces.
Follow This! 👀
The Instagram account Rupublicans is photo-shopping GOP members into fabulous drag costumes and adding captions that slay. HIGHLY recommend a follow.
One example—perhaps my favorite:
Curtain up for the ever-embarrassing Claretta Corrupta—this cutie-patootie can't help but steal the show. We just learned her billionaire bae went and bought her mama's cozy nest, then POOF, built her a super-cute carport and MORE! Ugh, jealous!
Extra! Extra! is maybe my favorite segment of the week! Wait, maybe it's all the links you give us so we can email our Reps and Senators, or maybe it's.....oh, heck, I just LOVE you Jessica! You help to make my/our weeks SO MUCH FUN!
Great way to start the week, plentiful successes to bolster hope & mentally prepare for this week's priorities. Thank you!!