FY27 House budget calls AHRQ "duplicative." As @academyhealth.bsky.social highlights here, and as I wrote as well (mirandayaver.substack.com/p/why-house-...), this is false. AHRQ does the essential work of funding health systems research & training the next generation. Call Congress: 202-224-3121

Why House Republicans' Plan to Eliminate AHRQ Would Be a Disaster

The House of Representatives is at it again, working to eliminate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a proposed cut that is as misguided as it is dangerous.

mirandayaver.substack.com

AcademyHealth@academyhealth.bsky.social · 2mo ago

AcademyHealth opposes the House FY27 Labor-HHS funding bill, which would eliminate AHRQ and cut off funding for patient-centered research. These programs are essential to improving care quality, safety, and access. Defunding them weakens our ability to build better health care. buff.ly/6HjTvqQ

This month, I got to write about an urgent issue that needs more attention: the US has a wage problem. Full-time work should be enough to support a family, but too often, it leaves workers relying on safety net programs like SNAP instead. Wages need to be higher—full stop. How do we get there?

Thousands of employed Colorado workers need SNAP benefits to make ends meet

Colorado’s minimum wage has increased, but not nearly enough to cover the rising cost of food.

theconversation.com

Just so you understand, this is as if you prepared for argument in front of a panel that included Cookie Monster, and Cookie Monster asked you a question about cookies, and you had not thought about cookies in advance.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4mo ago

GORSUCH: Do you think Native Americans are birthright citizens under your test? SAUER: Ah, I think ... so. I have to think that through.

GORSUCH: Do you think Native Americans are birthright citizens under your test? SAUER: Ah, I think ... so. I have to think that through.

A judge has blocked Trump from cutting SNAP benefits from 600,000 Coloradans.  We won’t let Trump break the laws and bully Colorado.  I will continue fighting the Trump Administration’s lawless actions in the courts. And we will continue winning. #Philforgovernor #COpolitics

To do this, anti-trans lawmakers in Kansas moved fast to change the law, overrode the governor’s veto, and pushed for the legal changes to go into effect nearly immediately. That kind of power—to void gender on official documents, to compel gender conformity—is terrifying and it will not stop here.

Erin Reed@erininthemorning.com · 5mo ago

1. Numerous transgender people in Kansas are reporting that the state has sent them a letter demanding the immediate surrender of drivers licenses. Those driving could be arrested, charged, and see privileges revoked. Subscribe to support our journalism. www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sen...

Our story @chicagotribune.com: Chicago teen Ofelia Torres, whose father was detained by ICE while she fought cancer, dies. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/14/c...

Chicago teen whose father was detained by ICE while she fought cancer dies

The Torres family story came to public attention after the teen’s father was detained at a Home Depot in Niles.

chicagotribune.com

Gregory Pratt@royalpratt.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Ofelia Torres, the teenage Chicago Public Schools student whose fight against cancer while her father was detained by ICE came to represent the federal government's overreach during Operation Midway Blitz, has died. Brave young woman. I will never forget her. RIP.

Seems real bad that the end point of ~25 years of War on Terror architecture is an agency of thin-skinned goons who will send armed men to your house if you email the government asking for compassion on behalf of someone else. newrepublic.com/post/206088/...

DHS Hunts Down 67-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Who Criticized Them in Email

The Department of Homeland Security is using a little-known tool to go after its critics.

newrepublic.com

Oh look, some enterprising reporter spent a bunch of time with the Taylor Rehmet campaign and wrote about it in the context of the regional, far-right politics!

Robert Downen@robertdownen.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Union-backed Dem Taylor Rehmet nearly pulled off a stunning upset in November — almost winning a deep-red TX Senate seat over two billionaire-funded Republicans. He's now in a runoff with a fixture of the Texas far right. My latest, from Tarrant County, a bellwether and hub of Christian nationalism:

Last February, the Trump administration zeroed out funding for all six Retirement and Disability Research Consortia across the country. They called them “wasteful government DEI programs.” The total annual cost of all six centers? $15 million.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌@chanda.blacksky.app · 6mo ago

Tell everyone you know HALF A BILLION $ apnews.com/article/trum...

NEW: In a revelation that undercuts the GOP narrative of widespread noncitizen voting in elections, a Utah audit of over 2 million voter registrations found only one apparent noncitizen on the rolls — and they never even voted.

Utah reviewed its voter rolls for noncitizens. It found one. Who never voted

The results sharply undercut the narrative of widespread noncitizen voting Republicans are using to promote new nationwide restrictions on voting.

democracydocket.com

Trump revoked the Obama-era policy that kept ICE out of schools. Now federal agents can enter school buildings and parking lots, and some parents are keeping kids home entirely out of fear.

Federal immigration enforcement near schools disrupts attendance, traumatizes students and damages their academic performance

While federal immigrant agents need to produce a judicial warrant to enter a classroom, they can freely operate in public spaces at and around schools.

buff.ly

www.forbes.com/sites/kenrob...

China Purchased No U.S. Soybeans For An Unprecedented Fifth Straight Month

U.S. soybean famers look for markets other than China as the trade war with the United States continues: countries like Mexico, Egypt, Germany and Pakistan.

forbes.com

You have to block them immediately. The full nuclear. They are only here to make folks angry, and that can’t happen if we lock them out.

Verified Account Tracker@verified.evil.gay · 7mo ago

✅ @icegov.bsky.social has been verified by @bsky.app.

Here is the CBS Sunday Morning piece for which I was interviewed about findings from my book Coverage Denied. Health insurance barriers ration health care by inconvenience, imposing hurdles to get prescribed care with administratively burdensome appeals many can’t navigate. youtu.be/SRPOoPDN-7w?...

State of denial: How insurance companies impact health care today

YouTube video by CBS Sunday Morning

youtu.be

Last year, a new law mandated severe cuts to SNAP benefits, including by increasing work requirements on parents and older adults. We need to know how these cuts are affecting Americans. We filed FOIA requests for impact analyses and communications about the cuts.

Take a screenshot of this GIF, and whichever new word you land on is YOUR word for 2026. Let's. Go.

Top tier joke

Has anyone told Jared?

Seth Abramson@sethabramson.bsky.social · 7mo ago

On Christmas Day, the Trump regime informed Americans, via a DHS tweet, that one only deserves the title of citizen of this nation—the designation "American"—if you accept Jesus of Nazareth as your Lord and Savior, i.e. are Christian. We Jews have heard this canary sing before.

This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...

Opinion | Obama Supported It. The Left in Canada and Norway Does. Why Don’t Democrats?

nytimes.com

ICE pepper-sprayed this 1-year-old girl. Once at the hospital, the doctor had to call in a poison control specialist. They had never seen anyone that young pepper sprayed. Another horrific story. More details below.

After some back and forth, we're settled: 'An American Problem: How the Country Built — And the Supreme Court Broke — The Voting Rights Act' will be coming your way from Princeton University Press next fall!

Kevin Morris@kevintmorris.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Today the marketing team told us they like the title of the book ("An American Problem," which comes from Johnson's VRA speech the week after Selma) but not the subtitle. Hive mind: what works?? ": How the Supreme Court Broke the Voting Rights Act"?

This autumn's disastrous government shutdown -- and the threat to SNAP coverage for millions of Americans -- have re-spurred conversations about guaranteed income, UBI, and publicly funded cash dividend programs. theconversation.com/a-colorado-g...

A Colorado guaranteed income program could help families, but the costs are high

A few hundred extra dollars a month would go a long way for many Coloradans.

theconversation.com

With federal safety net programs more unstable & inadequate than ever, is it time to establish an income floor for everyone? In this piece, Kaitlyn Sims, Stefan Chavez-Norgaard, & I some potential costs & benefits of creating a cash dividend program in Colorado. theconversation.com/a-colorado-g...

A Colorado guaranteed income program could help families, but the costs are high

A few hundred extra dollars a month would go a long way for many Coloradans.

theconversation.com

If you believed Trump would only detain and deport "dangerous criminals" and "bad people" than I hope you realize he lied to you. This is a woman who did nothing but help children learn. Our community is worse for losing her - and everyone like her. www.denverpost.com/2025/11/17/d...

Douglas County teacher arrested by ICE leaves country with family

A Douglas County teacher who was arrested by immigration authorities last month has since left the United States and returned to Peru, her former school said.

denverpost.com

I attended a scientific conference this week and as I sat through a couple 1.5 hour sessions with 5 15-20 minute presentations back-to-back, a question began speaking very loudly in my head: WHY DO WE DO THIS? It seems like an absurd way to disseminate our work.

And we knew this. This wasn't speculation. We studied it, we had the talking points. We trained volunteers to explain this to people. It's not a surprise. Rich people don't flee places with good quality of life when we increase the quality of life. They might try to cheat us, but they don't leave.

Institute for Policy Studies@ips-dc.org · 9mo ago

NEW: The first two years of Massachusetts' millionaire tax has raised $3 billion more than expected. And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.* Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:

For folks (and journalists) who want to search the Oversight Committee email texts, I made a database for searching the 20k text files: splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app