Greene has reportedly been considering a run for the Georgia seat currently held by Sen. John Ossoff (D) in next year's midterm election, which led the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to conduct early polling on possible match-ups.
The controversial lawmaker known as MTG did not fare well.
Of the four possible GOP contenders, Greene came in last — far behind Gov. Brian Kemp (R) who is almost deadlocked with the Democrat.
According to the AJC, "Kemp, whose approval rating sits at 60%, is the only Republican in the survey who polls close to Ossoff. ... Kemp’s approval rating is bolstered by strong support from independents and even a third of Democrats. That puts him nearly 20 points ahead of President Donald Trump and reinforces recent AJC polls showing the Republican is one of the most well-liked figures in Georgia politics."
Noting Kemp has been close-mouthed about a possible bid that would raise his national profile if he decided to turn around and run for president in 2028, the Journal-Constitution reported that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger weighs in as a possible loser to Ossoff at 48-39 percent and that Insurance Commissioner John King trails 51-38.
As for Taylor Greene, the new poll states, "Ossoff’s strongest advantage comes against Greene, the polarizing Trump ally and ultraconservative congresswoman from northwest Georgia. In that hypothetical matchup, Ossoff leads 54-37, thanks to support from 60% of independents and nearly 10% of Trump voters."
President Donald Trump said Thursday he is nominating his embattled national security adviser to become his next ambassador to the United Nations following a chaotic ouster Thursday.
News broke Thursday that Mike Waltz is leaving his post following a significant controversy involving the accidental inclusion in March of an Atlantic journalist in a secure Signal chat discussing sensitive U.S. military operations. Waltz inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the magazine, to a Signal group chat where top administration officials — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — discussed military strategies, including specific timings for airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Waltz later took responsibility for the flub, telling media outlets, "I take full responsibility. I built the group."
On Thursday, Trump appeared to offer Waltz a soft landing.
"I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations. From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "I know he will do the same in his new role."
Trump's first nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), but Republicans nixed her nomination, needing her to remain in her seat due to a razor-thin majority in the chamber.
Trump also named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his interim national security advisor, while continuing his duties at the State Department.
"Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump exclaimed.
Former CIA Director John Brennan thinks that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was ousted from the post because Trump is looking for a fall guy for Pete Hegseth's failures.
He began by noting how badly foreign policy is going for President Donald Trump in his first 100 days.
"The war in Ukraine is still raging. The situation in Gaza is awful. There are tensions between the U.S. and China. We don't know where the status is of the US-Iranian discussions," Brennan said. "And so these are things that would be the responsibility of a national security advisor, again, to oversee and to make sure they're moving forward."
He added, "And I think Trump is looking for a fall guy here. He's not going to get rid of Steve Witkoff, who is actively engaged in these areas. He's not going to get rid of Marco Rubio. And it's easy to replace a security advisor because it's not Senate-confirmed. It's easy to oust them and then put someone in, including a deputy, right away."
When it comes to Signalgate, Brennan said he's certain that over the last months, the White House has done its own internal investigation to uncover what happened. So, Waltz may have been named in those.
There's also a chance, Brennan said, that Waltz wasn't gushing enough in his praise of Trump.
"And it might be that some of the discussions that Mike Waltz was involved in — that he was not showing appropriate deference or sycophancy to President Trump. And that's something that I think Trump would be very much upset about," said Brennan.
A Donald Trump appointee ruled Thursday that his administration's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport alleged gang members was "unlawful."
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., of the Southern District of Texas, issued a ruling Thursday finding that the executive branch has the authority to direct the detention and removal of immigrants who engage in criminal activity, but he said the administration must rely on the Immigration and Nationality Act for those proceedings, reported NBC News.
"The historical record renders clear that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms," Rodriguez wrote.
The Trump appointee found the administration's use of “invasion” does not match the historical use of the term, which he said had been reserved to describe "an organized, armed force entering the United States to engage in conduct destructive of property and human life in a specific geographical area."
Rodriguez issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport, transfer or remove the plaintiffs or other Venezuelan aliens in the Southern District of Texas.
Mike Waltz is being ousted from the White House as national security adviser, and critics speculated about who president Donald Trump would select to replace him.
Sources familiar with the decision to oust Waltz say he had lost the confidence of other administration officials after mistakenly inviting a journalist into a group chat where defense secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed top-secret military planning, and his deputy Alex Wong is also expected to follow him out the door.
"Currently, a leading pick [to replace him] is Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is shepherding negotiations with Russia, Iran and Hamas in Gaza, according to the three of the people," reported Politico. "Other possible contenders include Trump’s top policy chief Stephen Miller, National Security Council senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka and Trump’s special envoy for special missions Richard Grenell."
The rumored replacements stunned many observers.
"If you’ll all excuse me I must return to my home world," said political science professor Daniel Drezner.
"I said Trump would find someone worse, but if he chooses [any of] these folks, it will be really hard to find someone worse than them when he fires them," replied political scientist Steve Saideman. "Worse than Grenell or Gorka?"
"They're gonna replace Waltz with... Witkoff?" posted author and editor Benjamin Dreyer. "Oh boy."
"Absolutely insane," said geopolitical analyst Joni Askola. "My dog is more qualified for the job than Witkoff is."
"New York Post yesterday: Witkoff is a fucking idiot, everyone agrees," added Michael Weiss, editor of The Insider. "White House today: Let's maybe make him National Security Adviser."
"Politico says the leading candidate to replace Waltz is Steve Witkoff which tracks for an Administration of None of the Talents," said journalist Mark Chadbourn. "It’ll probably be Laura Loomer. She seems to be what MAGA considers a national security expert these days."
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has attracted a lot of attention for his raspy voice, which results from a neurological voice disorder called spasmodic dysphonia.
Kennedy, 71, says that in his 40s he developed a neurological disease that “robbed him of his strong speaking voice.” Kennedy first publicly spoke of the quiver he had noticed in his voice in a 2004 interview with journalist Diane Rehm, who also had spasmodic dysphonia.
In 2005, Kennedy was receiving shots of botulinum toxin, the neurotoxin that is now used in Botox as well as to treat migraines and other conditions, every four months. This first-line treatment for dysphonia helps to weaken the vocal folds that contract abnormally with this condition. He used botulinum toxin injections for 10 years and then stopped using them, saying they were “not a good fit” for him.
Kennedy initially developed symptoms while in the public eye teaching at Pace University in New York. Some viewers wrote to him suggesting that he had the condition spasmodic dysphonia and that he should contact a well-known expert on the disease, Dr. Andrew Blitzer. He followed this advice and had the diagnosis confirmed.
I am a movement disorders neurologist and have long been passionate about the psychological and social toll that conditions such as dysphonias have on my patients.
Kennedy says his condition began in 1996, when he was 42.
Typically, a neurologist may suspect the disorder by identifying characteristic voice breaks when the patients is speaking. The diagnosis is confirmed with the help of an ear, nose and throat specialist who can insert a small scope into the larynx, examine the vocal folds and rule out any other abnormalities.
The most common type of spasmodic dysphonia is called adductor dysphonia, which accounts for 80% of cases. It is characterized by a strained or strangled voice quality with abrupt breaks on vowels due to the vocal folds being hyperadducted, or abnormally closed.
In contrast, a form of the condition called abductor dysphonia causes a breathy voice with breaks on consonants due to uncontrolled abduction – meaning coming apart of the vocal folds.
Potential treatments
Spasmodic dysphonia is not usually treatable with oral medications and sometimes can get better with botulinum toxin injections into the muscles that control the vocal cords. It is a lifelong disorder currently without a cure. Voice therapy through working with a speech pathologist alongside botulinum toxin administration may also be beneficial.
Surgical treatments can be an option for patients who fail botulinum toxin treatment, though surgeries come with risks and can be variably effective. Surgical techniques are being refined and require wider evaluation and long-term follow-up data before being considered as a standard treatment for spasmodic dysphonia.
The sudden, uncontrollable movements caused by irregular folding of the vocal folds are referred to as spasms, which gave rise to the name spasmodic dysphonia.
Dysphonias fall into a broader category of movement disorders
Spasmodic dysphonia is classified as a focal dystonia, a dystonia that affects one body part – the vocal folds, in the case of spasmodic dysphonia. Dystonia is an umbrella term for movement disorders characterized by sustained or repetitive muscle contractions that cause abnormal postures or movements.
Another type, called blepharospasm, involves involuntary muscle contractions and spasms of the eyelid muscles that can cause forced eye closure that can even affect vision in some cases. There can be other dystonias such as writer’s cramp, which can make the hand cramp when writing. Musicians can develop dystonias from overusing certain body parts such as violinists who develop dystonia in their hands or trumpet players who develop dystonia in their lips.
Stigmas and psychological distress
Dystonias can cause tremendous psychological distress.
Many dystonias and movement disorders in general, including Parkinson’s disease and other conditions that result in tremors, face tremendous amounts of stigma. In Africa, for instance, there is a misconception that the affected person has been cursed by witchcraft or that the movement disorder is contagious. People with the condition may be hidden from society or isolated from others due to fear of catching the disease.
In the case of spasmodic dysphonia, the affected person may feel that they appear nervous or ill-prepared while speaking publicly. They may be embarrassed or ashamed and isolate themselves from speaking to others.
My patients have been very frustrated by the unpredictable nature of the symptoms and by having to avoid certain sounds that could trigger the dysphonia. They may then have to restructure their word choices and vocabulary so as not to trigger the dysphonia, which can be very mentally taxing.
Some patients with dysphonia feel that their abnormal voice issues affect their relationships and their ability to perform their job or take on leadership or public-facing roles. Kennedy said in an interview that he finds the sound of his own voice to be unbearable to listen to and apologizes to others for having to listen to it.
A 2005 study exploring the biopsychosocial consequences of spasmodic dysphonia through interviews with patients gives some insight into the experience of people living with the disorder.
A patient in that study said that their voice sounded “like some kind of wild chicken screeching out words,” and another patient said that it “feels like you’re having to grab onto a word and push it out from your throat.” Another felt like “there’s a rubber band around my neck. Someone was constricting it.” And another said, “It feels like you have a sore throat all the time … like a raw feeling in your throat.”
Patients in the study described feeling hopeless and disheartened, less confident and less competent. The emotional toll can be huge. One patient said, “I used to be very outgoing and now I find myself avoiding those situations.” Another said, “People become condescending like you’re not capable anymore because you don’t speak well.”
As conditions such as spasmodic dysphonia become better recognized, I am hopeful that not only will treatments improve, but that stigmas around such conditions will diminish.
In her first major speech since failing to win the White House in November, former Vice President Kamala Harris called for Americans to come together and speak out against the actions of the Trump administration.
The former vice president described the current political climate as an articulation of President Donald Trump and his allies’ vision for the country, saying “the checks and balances upon which we have historically relied have begun to buckle” and warning that results in “a constitutional crisis.”
“The one power that must not fail is the voice of the people,” she said.
Harris spoke in San Francisco on Wednesday at the annual gala for Emerge, an organization that recruits and trains women to run for public office. Emerge was founded in response to Harris’ first bid for public office in 2005, when she ran for and won the race to serve as San Francisco’s attorney general.
For 15 minutes, Harris reiterated many of the overarching themes of her presidential campaign trail last year, including the importance of protecting America’s democratic principles and the American people’s power and potential to rally together to fight back against injustice.
“Here in our country, power ultimately lies not with the wealthy or well-connected, but with all of us, with we the people,” Harris said.
Harris also talked about the ways in which the first 100 days of Trump’s second presidential term have run counter to these ideals — and the response by many Americans already speaking out in protest.
“Instead of an administration working to advance America’s highest ideals, we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals,” Harris said. “And what we are also seeing in these last 14 weeks is Americans using their voice and showing their courage. We all know that President Trump and his administration and their allies are counting on the notion that if they make some people afraid, it will have a chilling effect on others. But what they have overlooked is that fear is not the only thing that’s contagious. Courage is contagious.”
Harris directly criticized Trump’s economic agenda, singling out the tariffs on foreign goods that have resulted in a drop in value for the American dollar and an increase in daily costs for common household goods.
She also called attention to the recent moves by the new administration “to detain and disappear American citizens or anyone without due process.” The Trump administration has been dealt repeated judicial rebukes in some high-profile cases, including that of immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, and Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and pro-Palestinian activist who was detained in March.
Making a reference to the viral “circle of trust” video showing a herd of elephants at the San Diego Zoo protecting one another during a recent earthquake in Southern California, Harris called on Americans to do as the elephants do: “Don’t scatter. The instinct has to be to immediately find and connect with each other and to know that the circle will be strong.”
Harris ended with a call to action, encouraging people to organize, mobilize and run for office. “To everyone, let’s lock in.” Speculation remains high regarding whether Harris will run to succeed term-limited Gavin Newsom as governor of California. Harris has reportedly told advisers and friends that she will make a decision by August.
Just 48 short years ago, movie director George Lucas used the phrase “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” as the opening to the first “Star Wars” movie, later labeled “Episode IV: A New Hope.” But at least four important aspects of the “Star Wars” saga are much closer – both in time and space – than Lucas was letting on.
And we, an environmental health engineer and a civil engineer, know there are at least three more elements of these ancient, distant Lucas stories that might seem like science fiction but are, in fact, science reality.
Moisture farming
In that first movie, “Episode IV,” Luke Skywalker’s Uncle Owen was a farmer on the planet of Tatooine. He farmed water from air in the middle of a desert.
Each day, a human needs to consume about the equivalent of 0.8 gallons of water (3 liters). With more than 8 billion people living on the planet, that means engineers need to produce nearly 2.6 trillion gallons (10 trillion liters) of clean drinking water every year. Taken globally, rainfall would be enough, but it’s distributed very unevenly – including landing in the oceans, where it immediately becomes too salty to drink safely.
Researchers at places such as Berkeley have developed solar-powered systems that can produce clean drinking water from thin air. In general, they use a material that traps water molecules from the air within its structure and then use sunlight to condense that water out of the material and into drinkable liquid. But there is still a ways to go before they are ready for commercial distribution and available to help large numbers of people.
Researchers can harvest water from air in the desert, in a process powered only by the Sun.
Space debris
When the second Death Star was destroyed in “Return of the Jedi,” it made a huge mess, as you would expect when blowing to smithereens an object at least 87 miles across (140 kilometers). But the movie’s mythology helpfully explains a hyperspace wormhole briefly opened, scattering much of the falling debris across the galaxy.
As best as anyone can tell, a hyperspace wormhole has never appeared near Earth. And even if such a thing existed or happened, humans might not have the technology to chuck all our trash in there anyway. So we’re left with a whole lot of stuff all around us, including in space.
According to the website Orbiting Now, in late April 2025 there were just over 12,000 active satellites orbiting the planet. All in all, the United States and other space-faring nations are trying to keep track of nearly 50,000 objects orbiting Earth. And there are millions of fragments of space debris too small to be observed or tracked.
Just as on Earth’s roads, space vehicles crash into each other if traffic gets too congested. But unlike the debris that falls to the road after an Earth crash, all the bits and pieces that break off in a space crash fly away at speeds of several thousand miles per hour (10,000 to 30,000 kph) and can then hit other satellites or spacecraft that cross their paths.
Engineers at NASA, the European Space Agency and other space programs are exploring a variety of technologies – including a net, a harpoon and a laser – to remove the more dangerous pieces of space junk and clean up the space environment.
There are many different kinds of mitochondria, and medical professionals are learning how to transplant mitochondria from one cell to another just like they transplant organs from one person’s body to another. Maybe one day a transplant procedure could help people find the light side of the Force and turn away from the dark side.
Former State Department spokesperson Ned Price told MSNBChe fears that the firing of Alex Wong, the principal deputy national security advisor, could be a result of a far-right activist who has the ear of President Donald Trump.
"I fear, Alex, that the real fireable offense in all of this will be the word of Laura Loomer," Price told host Alex Witt about the activist. "It is what she has told the president about Mike Waltz. And I think there's a real tell here. It's not just Mike Waltz, it's also his deputy, Alex Wong. And I say that because Alex Wong, because of his background, and, I think, because of his ethnicity, has really been in Loomer's crosshairs and the crosshairs of other fringe conspiracists."
After Loomer's visit in early April, three national security officials were fired. They included, "Brian Walsh, a director for intelligence and a former top staffer for now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the Senate Intelligence Committee; Thomas Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs who previously served as [national security adviser Mike] Waltz’s legislative director in Congress; and David Feith, a senior director overseeing technology and national security who served in the State Department during Trump’s first administration," CNN reported.
Having Loomer be so influential in determining the staffing of the top officials is a "dangerous" place for America to live, Price said.
"And again, just within weeks, we're seeing both Mike Waltz and Alex Wong out. The fact that someone like that can have such sway over the most sensitive epicenter of our foreign policy and national security decision-making process — again, it's a dangerous development that should be a concern to all of us," warned Price.
Two of Arizona’s top public health officials have resigned rather than face an acrimonious confirmation process at the legislature, where Republicans have used agency director hearings to play hardball politics with Gov. Katie Hobbs and stymie her government.
On Wednesday, Hobbs announced that Jennie Cunico, the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, and Carmen Heredia, who heads Arizona’s Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program, have stepped down from their positions. Heredia was scheduled to go before the state Senate’s Committee on Director Nominations for consideration on Thursday.
In her announcement, Hobbs blamed the Republican majority for co-opting the confirmation process to attack her nominations on political grounds.
“Unfortunately, the Senate’s unprecedented politicization of the director confirmation process has ended the directorship of two healthcare professionals who have made our state government run more efficiently and more effectively,” she said in a written statement. “The people of Arizona are tired of the relentless politics that has undermined good governance in the name of partisan retribution. It should not matter whether the leaders of our state government are Democrats or Republicans; it should matter that our state is run by public servants who do what’s right for everyday people.”
Under Arizona law, the governor’s agency picks are required to be vetted and approved or rejected by the state Senate. The process has historically been uneventful, with candidates facing interviews from lawmakers on committees relevant to the agencies they’ve been chosen for, but Hobbs’ election prompted Republicans to set up an entirely new committee to vet her choices. And that has resulted in aggressive, hourslong interrogations that more closely resemble federal confirmation hearings.
After several of her candidates resigned or were shot down for political reasons, Hobbs attempted to circumvent the process by appointing them as executive directors. Cunico was appointed in 2023, following the withdrawn nomination of her predecessor, former Pima County Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen, who underwent a contentious hearing that focused on her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Heredia was appointed in late 2022. But a failed court battle over the legality of Hobbs’ actions meant the duo would eventually need to win approval from the state Senate to continue serving in their roles.
Both Heredia and Cunico cited the contentious confirmation process in their resignation letters as the reason for their decisions to step down, despite their desire to continue working in public health.
“Serving the people of Arizona — especially our most vulnerable — has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life,” Heredia wrote. “However, it has become increasingly difficult to carry out this mission in good faith under the current political climate. I am deeply concerned about the escalating politicization of state agency leadership roles under the Republican-led Legislature. The intrusion of partisan agendas that drag professionals through career damaging hearings is not an effective way to attract and retain qualified people in these critical roles and has made it increasingly challenging to serve Arizona agencies effectively.”
“It is clear to me that there is no path forward to confirmation,” echoed Cunico.
Cunico, whose confirmation hearing hadn’t yet been scheduled, had already faced criticism for a Child Fatality Report that recommended increasing gun safety regulations and advised parents to remove firearms to prevent gun-related deaths. Republican lawmakers accused the department of public health of advocating for “stripping Arizonans of their Second Amendment rights.” While Cunico was not a part of the team that developed that report, it’s likely that, as the figurehead of the state’s public health department, the topic would have been brought up during her confirmation.
Republicans celebrated the resignations. Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Republican from Queen Creek who chairs the Director Nominations Committee and who also heads the legislature’s far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, said they are a “testament” to the work done by lawmakers to ensure candidates are the best choice for Arizonans.
“Arizona is in the middle of a monumental Medicaid fraud crisis with a loss of more than $2 billion in taxpayer dollars,” he wrote. “Under Katie Hobbs’ leadership, Heredia’s response has been incredibly disturbing, to say the least.”
That widespread fraudulent scheme, under which behavioral health and addiction treatment facilities lured and neglected patients to obtain Medicaid reimbursements, began in 2019 and went unchecked by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration. In a bid to clean up the mess and crackdown on fraudulent sober living homes, some legitimate businesses have had their payments suspended by AHCCCS. But officials have said that a process exists to release those payments and the department has sought to correct mistakes when they occur.
Hoffman vowed to continue pushing for stringent reviews of Hobbs’ candidates.
“Since its inception, the Committee on Director Nominations has been committed to honestly, thoroughly, and accurately vetting Katie Hobbs’ nominees,” he wrote. “We have served as Arizonans’ last line of defense against incompetent, unqualified, and highly partisan picks to lead state agencies.”
President Donald Trump revealed that he welcomes autocrats and despots into the Oval Office and tells them they are dictators, "but that's OK."
Trump made the remarks at a White House National Day of Prayer event on Thursday.
"As we bow our heads this beautiful day in the Rose Garden on the National Day of Prayer, we once again trust our lives to our liberties, and our happiness to the hands of the Creator who gave them to us, and who loves us," Trump said. "It's so nice because here you are in this unbelievable setting. I think no setting like it in the world."
"When you add up the importance, I take people into the Oval Office, and the biggest people, the foreign leaders, princes, kings, queens, and presidents, and prime ministers, and a couple of dictators, I guess," he explained. "They don't say that. They say, no, I'm a prime minister, or I'm a president."
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans defended President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs Wednesday, blocking a largely symbolic measure to terminate the president’s import taxes that have shocked the economy.
The resolution failed in a tied 49-49 vote Wednesday evening. Vice President J.D. Vance broke the tie on a subsequent procedural vote to stop the measure from receiving another chance on the floor.
Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky were the only three to break with their party in support of reining in Trump’s use of emergency powers to trigger tariffs on nearly every other nation across the globe.
Paul was the lone Republican co-sponsor on the Senate resolution, which was likely to go nowhere under House Republican leadership.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell missed the vote. Earlier in April McConnell joined Collins and Murkowski in voting to halt Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
‘Devastating’ economic news
The vote came hours after the release of figures showing the U.S. economy shrank during the first quarter of 2025.
“The devastating economic news we got this morning should be enough for senators to vote yes tonight. The only winner today is China, which is scooping up markets and allies Donald Trump has left in the dust,” Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said on the floor just before the vote.
Wyden and Paul co-sponsored the resolution that aimed to block Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announced April 2 that caused market upheaval.
The president’s shockingly high taxes on goods imported from some of the nation’s closest trading partners — 20% on the European Union, 24% on Japan, 46% on Vietnam — rocked global markets, erasing trillions in wealth. Trump triggered the levies by declaring foreign trade as a national emergency.
Trump announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs starting April 9, but left in place a 10% universal import tax on nearly every country across the globe — excluding China.
The White House is now in an all-out trade war with the world’s no. 2 economy, raising tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%. China stopped at a 125% levy on American goods.
Kaine warning
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who also co-sponsored the resolution, told reporters on a press call Wednesday that he’s willing to “link arms” with Trump to fight what the U.S. views as China’s unfair trade practices, but he said Trump needs to “wake up and smell the coffee” on the damage to relationships with trading partners.
“When you put tariffs on allies what you do is push away the very nations you could be joining with to counter China,” the Virginia Democrat said.
Kaine also blamed Trump’s trade policy for Wednesday’s negative economic headlines.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis report showed the U.S. gross domestic product decreased at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first three months of this year.
“It’s the wrong economic strategy to turn the strongest economy in the world to one that has red flashing lights on it,” Kaine said.
Kaine said he believed some House Republicans would support the resolution but that “leadership has bottled it up.”
Trump blames Biden
Trump’s administration officials and his allies in Congress continue to defend the tariffs. The president himself blames former President Joe Biden for the economic “hangover,” as he described it in his Truth Social post Wednesday.
“This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!,” Trump wrote.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune similarly told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday that economic reports are “short term.”
“They measure it sort of day by day, month by month, quarter by quarter. And as I said yesterday, I think that with the tariff issue that they’re playing the long game, but we’ll see,” the South Dakota Republican said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended Trump’s import taxes Tuesday from the White House briefing room, but also announced the administration’s reprieve on 25% taxes on foreign cars and auto parts.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the vote Wednesday night.
“Leader Thune and Senate Republicans tonight voted to keep the Trump tariff-tax in place. They own the Trump tariffs and higher costs on America’s middle-class families,” the New York Democrat said in a statement.
President Donald Trump cancelled a program that would help residents of Lowndes County, Alabama, stop human waste from building up in front of their homes, according to an NBC report.
Human wastewater contaminating homes and yards in these rural parts of central Alabama “has become a way of life,” according to Annye Burke, who’s lived in the county, which is about 40 miles southwest of Montgomery, her whole life.
The Biden administration allocated nearly $26 million to rebuild Lowndes County’s water infrastructure. The Department of Justice said the area was suffering from “environmental racism,” as it is a majority-Black area.
When President Trump signed the executive order that killed the deal, he called it “illegal DEI.”
It’s not just human waste that is becoming a problem, but also standing water. “Heavier rainfall related to climate change has meant that contaminated water floods into the home, spills across open areas, and contaminates local vegetation and water, exposing residents to illness,” according to NBC.
The county’s failing water infrastructure has led to serious health concerns, including hookworm, which at one point had been thought to be eradicated from the United States.
Hookworms are mainly contracted by walking barefoot on soil contaminated with infected feces. It can cause abdominal pain, skin rashes, diarrhea, fever, and other ailments.
“We have to be extra sanitary because people getting sick can be a problem,” Burke said. “The health concerns are real. In 2025 we shouldn’t have to deal with this, but it is what it is.” She told NBC she uses various disinfectants multiple times a day to clean her home and protect her children and grandchildren.
According to Environmental Activist Catherine Coleman Flowers, it's not just money preventing many from moving but also a connection to the land.
“My family has been in Lowndes County since slavery,” Flowers told NBC. “It’s home for people. Why would we want to move? That’s where our people are buried. We’re talking about giving up a culture,” she added. “So, we will continue this fight.”
