“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
The court was stingy in creating new abortion jurisprudence after the earthquake in Dobbsbut all the right-wing judges vehemently defended First Choice Tuesday. Meanwhile, red government funding continues to pour into this ploy as crisis pregnancy centers proliferate like mushrooms in states exempt from all real abortion care.
— Kate Riga
Americans want Congress to make laws, not Trump
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to a subpoena that was not self-imposed: “The average person—one of the donors of this organization or any similar organization—presenting this subpoena and then saying, ‘But don’t worry, it has to be under the seal of the court,’ is not going to see that as very reassuring.”
The court was stingy in creating new abortion jurisprudence after the earthquake in Dobbsbut all the right-wing judges vehemently defended First Choice Tuesday. Meanwhile, red government funding continues to pour into this ploy as crisis pregnancy centers proliferate like mushrooms in states exempt from all real abortion care.
— Kate Riga
Americans want Congress to make laws, not Trump
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
“Do you think there is a credible deterrent effect from the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses, current or last known place of employment of each of their donors who donated money through any means other than one specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin's lead lawyer, a question.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to a subpoena that was not self-imposed: “The average person—one of the donors of this organization or any similar organization—presenting this subpoena and then saying, ‘But don’t worry, it has to be under the seal of the court,’ is not going to see that as very reassuring.”
The court was stingy in creating new abortion jurisprudence after the earthquake in Dobbsbut all the right-wing judges vehemently defended First Choice Tuesday. Meanwhile, red government funding continues to pour into this ploy as crisis pregnancy centers proliferate like mushrooms in states exempt from all real abortion care.
— Kate Riga
Americans want Congress to make laws, not Trump
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
But First Choice, represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, wanted to take this fight straight to federal court to better roll the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped strengthen the federal judiciary, has since joined the cause on First Choice's side.
“Do you think there is a credible deterrent effect from the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses, current or last known place of employment of each of their donors who donated money through any means other than one specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin's lead lawyer, a question.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to a subpoena that was not self-imposed: “The average person—one of the donors of this organization or any similar organization—presenting this subpoena and then saying, ‘But don’t worry, it has to be under the seal of the court,’ is not going to see that as very reassuring.”
The court was stingy in creating new abortion jurisprudence after the earthquake in Dobbsbut all the right-wing judges vehemently defended First Choice Tuesday. Meanwhile, red government funding continues to pour into this ploy as crisis pregnancy centers proliferate like mushrooms in states exempt from all real abortion care.
— Kate Riga
Americans want Congress to make laws, not Trump
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) issued a subpoena to First Choice seeking a broad package of information, including donor identification, as part of an investigation into whether the center misled both donors and potential clients. A subpoena is not self-executing, meaning the parties will then go to state court and fight to have it enforced or blocked.
But First Choice, represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, wanted to take this fight straight to federal court to better roll the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped strengthen the federal judiciary, has since joined the cause on First Choice's side.
“Do you think there is a credible deterrent effect from the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses, current or last known place of employment of each of their donors who donated money through any means other than one specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin's lead lawyer, a question.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to a subpoena that was not self-imposed: “The average person—one of the donors of this organization or any similar organization—presenting this subpoena and then saying, ‘But don’t worry, it has to be under the seal of the court,’ is not going to see that as very reassuring.”
The court was stingy in creating new abortion jurisprudence after the earthquake in Dobbsbut all the right-wing judges vehemently defended First Choice Tuesday. Meanwhile, red government funding continues to pour into this ploy as crisis pregnancy centers proliferate like mushrooms in states exempt from all real abortion care.
— Kate Riga
Americans want Congress to make laws, not Trump
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
But recent efforts by blue states to regulate these outposts of the anti-abortion movement have faced criticism from the right-wing Supreme Court as crisis pregnancy centers shroud themselves in First Amendment protections. In 2018, the court struck down a California law that required local pregnancy centers to inform patients about abortion options. Tuesday appears to face a similar fate.
In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) issued a subpoena to First Choice seeking a broad package of information, including donor identification, as part of an investigation into whether the center misled both donors and potential clients. A subpoena is not self-executing, meaning the parties will then go to state court and fight to have it enforced or blocked.
But First Choice, represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, wanted to take this fight straight to federal court to better roll the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped strengthen the federal judiciary, has since joined the cause on First Choice's side.
“Do you think there is a credible deterrent effect from the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses, current or last known place of employment of each of their donors who donated money through any means other than one specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin's lead lawyer, a question.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to a subpoena that was not self-imposed: “The average person—one of the donors of this organization or any similar organization—presenting this subpoena and then saying, ‘But don’t worry, it has to be under the seal of the court,’ is not going to see that as very reassuring.”
The court was stingy in creating new abortion jurisprudence after the earthquake in Dobbsbut all the right-wing judges vehemently defended First Choice Tuesday. Meanwhile, red government funding continues to pour into this ploy as crisis pregnancy centers proliferate like mushrooms in states exempt from all real abortion care.
— Kate Riga
Americans want Congress to make laws, not Trump
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
They use keywords and images about abortion rights—the center in this case is called “First.” Choice – lure pregnant women in order to better dissuade them from abortion. You'll need to scroll all the way to the bottom of the New Jersey center's website to find the disclaimer: “First Choice Women's Resource Centers is an alternative abortion clinic and does not provide or refer abortion services.” They often set up shop next to actual abortion clinics and promote anti-abortion misinformation.
But recent efforts by blue states to regulate these outposts of the anti-abortion movement have faced criticism from the right-wing Supreme Court as crisis pregnancy centers shroud themselves in First Amendment protections. In 2018, the court struck down a California law that required local pregnancy centers to inform patients about abortion options. Tuesday appears to face a similar fate.
In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) issued a subpoena to First Choice seeking a broad package of information, including donor identification, as part of an investigation into whether the center misled both donors and potential clients. A subpoena is not self-executing, meaning the parties will then go to state court and fight to have it enforced or blocked.
But First Choice, represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, wanted to take this fight straight to federal court to better roll the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped strengthen the federal judiciary, has since joined the cause on First Choice's side.
“Do you think there is a credible deterrent effect from the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses, current or last known place of employment of each of their donors who donated money through any means other than one specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin's lead lawyer, a question.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to a subpoena that was not self-imposed: “The average person—one of the donors of this organization or any similar organization—presenting this subpoena and then saying, ‘But don’t worry, it has to be under the seal of the court,’ is not going to see that as very reassuring.”
The court was stingy in creating new abortion jurisprudence after the earthquake in Dobbsbut all the right-wing judges vehemently defended First Choice Tuesday. Meanwhile, red government funding continues to pour into this ploy as crisis pregnancy centers proliferate like mushrooms in states exempt from all real abortion care.
— Kate Riga
Americans want Congress to make laws, not Trump
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
They use keywords and images about abortion rights—the center in this case is called “First.” Choice – lure pregnant women in order to better dissuade them from abortion. You'll need to scroll all the way to the bottom of the New Jersey center's website to find the disclaimer: “First Choice Women's Resource Centers is an alternative abortion clinic and does not provide or refer abortion services.” They often set up shop next to actual abortion clinics and promote anti-abortion misinformation.
But recent efforts by blue states to regulate these outposts of the anti-abortion movement have faced criticism from the right-wing Supreme Court as crisis pregnancy centers shroud themselves in First Amendment protections. In 2018, the court struck down a California law that required local pregnancy centers to inform patients about abortion options. Tuesday appears to face a similar fate.
In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) issued a subpoena to First Choice seeking a broad package of information, including donor identification, as part of an investigation into whether the center misled both donors and potential clients. A subpoena is not self-executing, meaning the parties will then go to state court and fight to have it enforced or blocked.
But First Choice, represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, wanted to take this fight straight to federal court to better roll the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped strengthen the federal judiciary, has since joined the cause on First Choice's side.
“Do you think there is a credible deterrent effect from the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses, current or last known place of employment of each of their donors who donated money through any means other than one specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin's lead lawyer, a question.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to a subpoena that was not self-imposed: “The average person—one of the donors of this organization or any similar organization—presenting this subpoena and then saying, ‘But don’t worry, it has to be under the seal of the court,’ is not going to see that as very reassuring.”
The court was stingy in creating new abortion jurisprudence after the earthquake in Dobbsbut all the right-wing judges vehemently defended First Choice Tuesday. Meanwhile, red government funding continues to pour into this ploy as crisis pregnancy centers proliferate like mushrooms in states exempt from all real abortion care.
— Kate Riga
Americans want Congress to make laws, not Trump
Today, a new poll from States United, a nonprofit group focused on elections and the rule of law, show that there is significant public opposition to President Trump's continued expansion of presidential powers and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States today released a report detailing Trump's use of executive action unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025 to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context by US state:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump's predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. In his first 100 days, Biden issued 42 executive orders, which was itself a record for that time among recent presidents.
The report examines recent history and notes that presidents are most likely to use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the upper and lower houses of Congress, leading to legislative gridlock. However, Trump's party controls both houses of Congress, albeit narrowly, and Americans do not approve of Trump's approach to governing the country. (As TPM reports, Republican congressional leadership did very little to protect their branch's own power in Trump II's first year in office.)
According to the States United poll (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump's unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. A US poll found that 74% of Americans believe the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
—Nicole Lafond
Hegseth is hot on his heels
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after… Washington Post Last week it was reported that he had given a verbal order to “kill everyone” on board the vessel, which the Trump administration unlawfully attacked in September. But Hegseth showed defiance during one of Trump's signature “cabinet meetings” televised on Tuesday.
“We've just started hitting drug boats and dropping narco-terrorists to the bottom of the ocean because they're poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while suggesting he didn't know if there were survivors on the boat from the first strike – a fact he said was shrouded in the “fog of war.”
