By Jessica Corbett
"Trump isn't king, but if Congress capitulates, he could be," warned the leaders of Popular Democracy.
Since U.S. President Trump's return to office on Monday—at an inauguration ceremony full of American oligarchs—as the Republican has issued a flurry of executive orders and other actions, progressive leaders and organizers have expressed alarm and vowed to fight against his "authoritarian" agenda.
By Piper Hutchinson
An LSU law school professor has been removed from teaching classes for reportedly making political comments in the classroom, his attorney says.
LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center Dean Alena Allen told students in an online meeting Tuesday that tenured law professor Ken Levy is being replaced pending an investigation.
Baton Rouge attorney Jill Craft, who is representing Levy, said he intends to fight the reprimand.
By Jake Johnson
"Trump's White House is government by the billionaires, for the billionaires," said the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus."
While President-elect Donald Trump is expected to hail the "start of a thrilling new era of national success" during his inaugural speech on Monday, progressives said the presence of some of the nation's most powerful billionaires at the event signals that the incoming administration's agenda will prioritize the success the country's wealthiest.
By Sharon Zhang
The deal is slated to begin on Sunday, Qatar’s prime minister said, beginning with a 6-week cessation of hostilities.
Officials have finalized a long-awaited Gaza ceasefire deal, Qatar’s prime minister and other leaders announced on Wednesday, potentially bringing an end to the nearly 16 months of genocidal violence in Gaza in which Israeli forces have slaughtered, at a minimum, 46,000 Palestinians, and likely far more in their all-out extermination campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is slated to meet in coming days to vote on the deal. If it is passed, the deal would be implemented on Sunday, officials said, and would consist of three phrases.
By Amanda Hernandez
Rampant sexual abuse by guards at women’s prisons in California. An inmate suicide that went unnoticed for 18 hours in Washington state. Multiple jail breaks in Pennsylvania.
Prisons and jails across the United States are overcrowded and understaffed, jeopardizing the safety of incarcerated people, correctional officers and surrounding communities. As state legislatures convene in the coming weeks, many lawmakers are focusing on a key criminal justice issue for prisons and jails: more oversight.
By Emma Rose Brown
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Pamela J. Bondi to lead
the Department of Justice on Nov. 21, just hours after Trump’s original
pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), withdrew his name from consideration over
alleged sex crimes and drug-related misconduct.
Who is she? Bondi, a corporate lobbyist and former two-term attorney general of Florida, is a longtime Trump loyalist who served on his first impeachment team. She falsely claimed he won Pennsylvania in 2020, and she stumped for Trump in late 2024.
By Charlotte Ehrlich
While he is celebrated for earning two Bronze Stars, Hegseth’s political and financial controversies have raised concerns ahead of his Senate confirmation.
By Janine Jackson
Janine Jackson interviewed the Sentencing Project’s Richard Mendel about coverage of youth crime for the December 20, 2024, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.
Janine Jackson: Some listeners may know the Sentencing Project for their work calling out racial disparities in sentencing associated with crack versus powder cocaine, and mandatory minimums. A recent project involves looking into another factor shaping public understanding and public policy around criminal justice—the news media. In this case, the focus is young people.
By Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his New York hush money case just days before his inauguration, making him the only past and future U.S. president with a criminal record.
Trump has faced four criminal prosecutions but the New York state case was the sole one that went to trial. A jury convicted him in May on 34 felonies for falsifying invoices, checks and ledger entries that amounted to a $130,000 reimbursement to his lawyer for paying off a porn star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
By Kevin Hardy
The minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour.
In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to significantly increase their minimum wages this year.
