Error message

Deprecated function: Array and string offset access syntax with curly braces is deprecated in include_once() (line 20 of /home/caucusni/public_html/includes/file.phar.inc).

The Evening Blues - 11-12-26

Submitted by joe shikspack on Thu, 11/12/2026 - 3:49pm

eb1pt12

The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Mississippi John Hurt

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features country blues guitarist Mississippi John Hurt. Enjoy!

^{Mississippi John Hurt - Oh Mary Don't You Weep}

"Become an internationalist and learn to respect all life. Make war on machines. And in particular the sterile machines of corporate death and the robots that guard them."

-- Abbie Hoffman

News and Opinion

Eric Trump’s Humanoid Robots To Be Used In Gaza Genocide

The Financial Times has published a new article titled “Humanoid robot start-up backed by Eric Trump in talks with Israel’s military” which is exactly as horrifying as its headline suggests.

The article features photographs of bipedal armored robots which look like they came from the set of a post-apocalyptic Hollywood movie, and opens as follows:

“A company backed by Eric Trump is in talks with the Israel Defense Forces to supply humanoid robots to patrol Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza and potentially engage in combat.

“Foundation Future Industries co-founder and president Mike LeBlanc said he had met senior Israeli military officials for preliminary discussions in September and toured tunnels with the US start-up’s Phantom MK1.

“‘We’re in direct talks with the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces,’ the former US Marine told the FT, adding that his company was in discussions to supply up to 1,000 Phantoms.”

FT Exclusive: A company backed by Eric Trump is in talks with the Israel Defense Forces to supply humanoid robots to patrol Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza and potentially engage in combat. https://t.co/LHM4PCfHRl https://t.co/rGDUnwOopx

— Financial Times (@FT) November 11, 2026

Foundation Future Industries is a San Francisco-based robotics company which is actively seeking lucrative contracts with US and foreign militaries. Financial Times reports that the two year-old company has already secured contracts worth $70 million from the American war machine.

In a July article titled “A Humanoid Company Backed by Eric Trump Is Preparing Its Robots for War,” Wired reported that Foundation robots are already operating on the battlefield in Ukraine:

“The war in Ukraine has served as a laboratory for the development and testing of many of these systems; Foundation says it has tested its humanoid, Phantom MK1, with Ukrainian forces.

“It’s unique in its targeting of the military market, and so far it’s been lucrative. The company has government contracts worth millions of dollars and high-profile backers to spread its message: Eric Trump, the president’s son, is both an investor and the company’s chief strategy adviser.”

I probably don’t need to explain to anyone reading this why it is insanely corrupt and dystopian for the president’s son to be making a fortune selling murderbot contracts to the US military while his warmongering father engages in reckless military expansionism around the world. But it really does highlight exactly where the US empire is at on the timeline of degradation and tyranny.

During an interview on Fox Business this past April in which Eric Trump appeared alongside Foundation CEO Sankaet Pathak, the American princeling gushed enthusiastically about how far the United States has come in what he describes as a robotics race with China.

“When you go up and you interact with these robots, and they fist-bump you, they high-five you, they follow your commands,” Trump said. “You bring in AI autonomy, it’s going to change industry, going to change military application, it’s going to change hospitality. The uses are unlimited, and I think it’s a very beautiful thing, but we must win this race.”

Eric Trump on his $24 million Pentagon contract for robots: "It's gonna change industry, military application, hospitality. The uses are unlimited and I think it's a very beautiful thing, but we must win that race." https://t.co/JsfiB6Usbi

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 23, 2026

I often see people wondering why AI is being shoved down our throats with little to no regulation despite the fact that it isn’t improving our lives in any meaningful way, but that’s because AI isn’t intended to benefit ordinary people. It’s intended to power autonomous military robots who will fire upon the citizenry if they attempt a revolution in ways human soldiers might refuse to do. It’s intended to re-centralize control of information, to replace expensive skilled labor, to destroy the collective bargaining power of the working class, and to facilitate mass surveillance throughout our society.

Humanity needs to wake up to what’s going on, because we are fast approaching the point where they have the technologies in place to lock us in this dystopia forever.

Democrats running cover for Iran war - Max Blumenthal on Judging Freedom

Trump planning new military assault or tighter sanctions, say Iranian officials

Senior Iranian officials believe the US is planning either further military strikes or an ever-tightening economic stranglehold that will push Tehran into retaliatory action. The assessment comes from Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Mohammadi said on his Telegram channel that the Americans had proposed a timeframe of about two weeks after which Donald Trump would make a decision on military action. Mohammadi, who is regarded as a reliable indicator of Ghalibaf’s thinking, cast doubt on the US president’s claim that the military option was off the table. He claimed Washington was preparing for a limited strike and Iran was already preparing a response.

If the US sanctions continued, he said, a comprehensive pre-emptive war would be needed “to increase the cost of sanctions for the enemy”. Mohammadi described the US response to Iran’s latest proposals on reopening the strait of Hormuz as “not only unsatisfactory but completely deceptive”. “They do not want to release the frozen funds,” he said. “They do not want to lift the sanctions and they do not want to stop the war in Lebanon.”

He also disclosed that Iran had rejected a request from the US vice-president, JD Vance, for a direct meeting with its negotiators before giving a response to Tehran’s conditions for lifting the siege on the strait. For now, Trump has settled on a strategy of suffocating Iran through economic pressure and tightening the blockade on its oil exports while facilitating those of other Gulf states through Hormuz.

In another development, Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s national security council, said he had told Russia that Iran was not prepared for even a particle of its highly enriched stockpile of uranium to leave the country, saying it might be needed for planned nuclear-powered submarines.

Prof. Mohammad Marandi : How Iran Prepares For the Worst

Patrick Henningsen: Massive False Flag Risk Could Trigger a Wider War

US Taxpayer Coalition Urges ICC to Issue Arrest Warrants for Trump, Rubio Over Gaza Genocide

A coalition of American taxpayers, including human rights lawyers and activists, formally submitted video footage, firsthand eyewitness accounts, and other evidence to the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, making the case that the tribunal should issue arrest warrants for US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for aiding Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.

The evidence submission was organized by the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide (TAAG), which recently secured a preliminary court decision that blocked a Trump executive order sanctioning human rights groups and others who work with the ICC—an institution that the Trump administration is actively working to dismantle.

The 28-page document includes detailed accounts of Trump and Rubio’s actions in support of the Israeli government’s devastating and ongoing attacks on Gaza and the illegally occupied West Bank.

Trump, the submission states, “personally authorized and facilitated the release of approximately 1,800 previously withheld 2,000-pound MK-84 bombs” to the Israeli military and “rescinded West Bank sanctions on individuals and entities the United States had formally determined were involved in violence and dispossession.”

“These acts of material assistance had a substantial effect on Israel’s ability to carry out military operations in Gaza and on the ability of sanctioned actors to continue violence in the West Bank,” the document argues.

As for Rubio, “the evidence records State Department and [Defense Security Cooperation Agency] approvals of major arms sales to Israel after February 2025, including Hellfire missiles, munitions, guidance kits, fuses, munitions support, and large quantities of 2,000-pound bomb bodies and penetrator warheads.”

“The [ICC] prosecutor should investigate whether Secretary Rubio approved or expedited the same categories of munitions whose prior use had generated known civilian harm and concerns about violations of international humanitarian law,” the document states.

Seth Donnelly, a cofounder of TAAG, said at a press conference in The Hague on Wednesday, “We urge the office of the prosecutor to act quickly on this evidence.”

“The evidence includes sworn affidavits from doctors who worked in Gaza, firsthand eyewitness accounts, whistleblower testimony, videos, and extensive documentation concerning US political, military, diplomatic, and financial support for Israel,” said Donnelly.

Joining the delegation behind the ICC submission were human rights attorney Huwaida Arraf, Palestinian American author Susan Abulhawa, and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon who has served in Gaza.

“American airplanes burning American jet fuel are dropping American bombs, which are guided by American guidance systems on targets that were picked largely by software developed in the United States,” said Sidhwa. “I hope these attempts at reestablishing—or maybe establishing—the rule of law in the international system, these attempts to hold the powerful accountable, something that we unfortunately have failed to do in our own society, can be an effective resistance to the fascist forces that are spreading throughout the world now.”

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, applauded the delegation’s submission, saying at Wednesday’s press conference that “international law remains the last peaceful instrument we possess to confront injustice and pave the way forward.”

“The legal tools are there. They are not the only ones, but they are peaceful tools,” said Albanese. “What is missing is the political courage to use them. That political courage is [what] the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide is showing. And this is why today’s gathering matters.”

“The United States continues to arm Israel, protect those responsible for its crimes, and enable individuals and companies to profit from their commission,” she added. “So let us be clear: The genocide of the Palestinian people would not have been possible without the unwavering support of the United States.”

Richard Wolff & Michael Hudson: The 'Iron Gate' That Wasn't: How Iran Turned the Tables on the U.S.

UN Expert Calls on Nations to ‘Send Humanitarian Vessels’ to Break Israeli Siege of Gaza

A leading United Nations human rights expert said nations must prepare to send ships to break Israel’s “siege” of Gaza as it continues to block humanitarian aid—including tents, shelter materials, and repair supplies—from entering the territory as its population is inundated by deadly floods.

“Israel must immediately open all Gaza crossings and let humanitarian aid in, starting with new tents and modular housing, clean water, nutrient-rich food, medicines,” Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, wrote on social media Tuesday. “If... Israel still refuses, any principled leader would send humanitarian vessels to break the siege.”

Most buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s genocidal three-year military assault. About 1.4 million people now live in makeshift shelters, including flimsy tents.

Israel must immediately open all Gaza crossings and let humanitarian aid in, starting with new tents and modular housing, clean water, nutrient-rich food, medicines. If by 9am tomorrow Israel still refuses, any principled leader would send humanitarian vessels to break the siege.

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) November 10, 2026

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, about 70,000 tents were flooded when heavy rains struck the territory over the weekend, leaving tens of thousands of displaced people without shelter, defenseless against the elements. At least four children and two women have died as a result of the flooding.

As The Guardian reported Wednesday, the storms have also damaged sanitation infrastructure, causing sewage to flow into families’ tents. About 940,000 people in Gaza live in makeshift tent areas at risk of flooding.

“All our clothes were soaked. My kids are all sick, and I can’t afford to buy them more clothes,” said Raed Jamal, a displaced Palestinian. “Watching them suffering in the cold is heartbreaking.”

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 150,000 tents are awaiting Israeli authorization to enter Gaza, even as humanitarian organizations warn that Israel’s restrictions on shelter supplies are exacerbating the deadly flooding emergency.

On Monday, the International Rescue Committee said aid groups had only about 2,800 tents available, compared with roughly 121,000 that are needed. Meanwhile, no emergency shelter kits were available.

“People are exhausted and have spent days trying to secure tarpaulins and scoop water from the floor of tents,” said Beckie Ryan, the humanitarian group CARE Palestine’s interim country director. “For these families, most of whom have been displaced repeatedly, a flooded tent means losing their last protection against the elements as winter approaches. It also means the loss of essential belongings, including clothing, bedding, medication, documentation, and personal items.”

“Israeli authorities must facilitate full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access,” she said. “This includes opening all crossings for humanitarian aid and facilitating the entry of shelter and construction materials and machinery.”

As heavy rain and flooding hit #Gaza, around 1.4 million people living in tents and makeshift shelters are once again facing a harsh winter.

We call for the entry of essential winter supplies. People cannot endure a fourth winter in these conditions.

Saeed Abu el-Nour updates: https://t.co/tbooqhWa3A

— Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (@MSF_canada) November 10, 2026

Israel’s restrictions on shelter materials are part of broader limits on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, with only one crossing for humanitarian cargo currently operational. Relief organizations say the closures have created bottlenecks that have delayed deliveries of food, medicine, and desperately needed shelter materials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied responsibility for the conditions, blaming the militant group Hamas for allegedly diverting humanitarian aid for military use, a claim for which he provided no supporting evidence, according to The Associated Press.

His response came after some unusually pointed criticism from the US-led Gaza Board of Peace, which said Israel’s restrictions had “exacerbated the consequences of a foreseeable humanitarian challenge.”

The crisis has also drawn pledges of action from foreign officials. Ed Miliband, the UK foreign secretary, said on Monday that the “humanitarian situation in Gaza is getting worse,” adding that the British government would “not stand by” and “not rest until we bring an end to the intolerable suffering.”

Albanese made her call for humanitarian vessels in direct response to Miliband’s remarks, challenging world leaders to do more than condemn the worsening crisis.

Several governments have previously supported civilian efforts to break Israel’s blockade—including Spain and Italy, which sent naval vessels to assist the activist-led Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israel last year. But no government has publicly committed to sending its own ships to force humanitarian aid through Israel’s blockade.

Albanese and five other UN human rights experts made a similar appeal in May, saying that “states should take necessary action to prevent genocide and to support all efforts to deliver aid to the Palestinian population.”

Richard Burgon, a Labour member of the British Parliament, introduced a motion on Tuesday calling for his government to take more concrete action to compel Israel to allow in aid, which he said has received over 50 signatures.

He said, “Governments around the world should respond to the horrific scenes from flood-hit Gaza with a clear and coordinated message to Israel: We will impose sanctions on everyone responsible for blocking humanitarian aid from getting in.”

COL. Lawrence Wilkerson : Will the US Strike Iran?

How a small, newly socialist US city became the second to vote to cut ties with Israel

The tectonic blue wave that washed over the country in last week’s midterms also brought about a historic night for the pro-Palestine movement. Up and down the ballot, candidates who demanded an end to Israel’s war in Gaza resoundingly defeated opponents funded by the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac). Providence, meanwhile, became the second US city to vote to divest from Israel. Voters in the Rhode Island capital approved a ballot measure last Tuesday requiring the city to refrain from investing in foreign countries that profit from “genocide, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and prolonged military occupation”.

Passing with 75% of the vote, the victory aligns with public opinion’s souring on the Israeli government. One-third of Americans – including a similar share of Jews – say Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians, and more than half say they want the government to stop sending weapons to Israel, according to recent polls. Organizers say the success of Providence’s ballot strategy is built on both the broad public support for divestment and a canvassing operation that can be replicated by pro-Palestinian groups in other cities.

“When we were out on the streets, we were overwhelmed by the positive results, by people who were so thankful to have a meaningful opportunity to do something about Palestine,” said Adit Sabnis, a graduate student at Brown University and local union organizer with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 6516, one of the groups that led the Providence ballot push. “This is an overwhelmingly pro-Palestine and anti-genocide city.”

The Providence for Palestine campaign launched a little less than a year ago with just 40 volunteers, said Zack Kligler, an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace – Rhode Island. Led by the local chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), AFT and American Muslims for Palestine, as well as the local housing justice organization Reclaim RI, the group decided to pursue a ballot strategy after traditional legislative efforts failed.

Putin Shocks Kushner Witkoff During Icy Meeting; Wants Europe Security Deal & 4 Regions; EU Trapped

Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi bring progress on prisoners but not on peace

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to the “largest prisoner exchange” of the war at their first US-brokered talks since February but made little progress towards a broader peace agreement. Both sides sent senior delegations to the two-day talks, led by Donald Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, in an effort to find a solution to end the nearly-five-year war.

David Arakhamia, a senior member of Ukraine’s delegation, said the Russian team had arrived with “very, very strict directives”, making it difficult to narrow differences. But he said there had been “really big progress” on security guarantees for Ukraine after the war. “I think we have good momentum to bring about a solution before the new year,” Arakhamia said.

Kushner said the planned exchange, expected to involve more than 1,000 prisoners from each side, would “reunite families, build trust and create momentum towards peace”. The US envoys are due to travel to Moscow on Thursday to discuss the Abu Dhabi talks with Vladimir Putin, before heading to Dublin, where they are expected to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a group of European partners.

Vladimir Medinsky, the hardline Russian official who led Moscow’s delegation, said that “every inch of our land will be returned to Russia, one way or another,” in a sign that Moscow was unwilling to soften its territorial demands. Russia would be satisfied with the negotiations only “when there is peace on its terms”, he added. Medinsky said Europe’s post-second world war security system was failing, with Ukraine merely the place where its wider problems had erupted. “Essentially, the whole body is sick, and Ukraine was just a cyst that burst. The whole body must be cured. A Band-Aid won’t be enough,” Medinsky said.

His focus on Europe’s wider security order is likely to heighten concern among European leaders that Washington and Moscow could reach a broader agreement on the continent’s security, potentially limiting Nato’s military presence in eastern Europe. Russia appears to be seeking to revive demands it presented to Nato in 2021, including a halt to further enlargement that would rule out Ukraine’s membership, restrictions on Nato forces and weapons in European countries that joined after 1997, and limits on missile deployments. That ultimatum was dismissed as a non-starter by the west and, weeks later, Russia invaded Ukraine.

Millions join Spain’s first general strike in 14 years in protest at housing crisis

Millions of people across Spain have joined the country’s first general strike in 14 years, setting up picket lines to protest against soaring housing prices before an election in which the far right could be catapulted into power. At the centre of Wednesday’s nationwide 24-hour stoppage, singularly called for by tenants’ associations and later backed by workers’ unions, is a pushback against Spain’s deepening housing crisis.

Sandra Mora, of the Madrid Tenants’ Union, told the broadcaster RNE: “It’s extremely important to remind people that we, the workers – who are also renters or who also pay mortgages – are the ones with the power to halt production and bring the economy to a standstill.” While workers’ unions reported high participation in the strike across several sectors, including 90% in the automotive and port sectors and 82% in waste collection, they said participation was uneven across the country. The strongest support was reported in coastal regions, such as Catalonia and Andalucía, where the soaring cost of housing has been particularly acute.

The Confederation of Tenants’ Association described the strike as a success, saying in a statement that by midday about 4 million people had taken part. Many schools and universities were reportedly closed or working at minimal capacity. In Madrid, the labour action added to a continuing teachers’ strike that began nearly a month ago to demand better working conditions.

Housing campaigners and unions have called on the government to do more to intervene in the market, with tenants’ unions demanding measures such as a crackdown on housing speculation, the elimination of tourist lets and strengthened protections for renters. While nominal wages for many across Spain had risen in recent years, Unai Sordo, the head of Spain’s biggest labour union, the Workers’ Commissions, said no amount of collective bargaining would be enough to address housing costs that had climbed by as much as 12% annually. “There is one issue that is fracturing the country, and that is the difficulty many people face in accessing housing,” he told the broadcaster Cadena Ser.

Spain is holding a general election on 29 November. The snap vote was called by the Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, after rightwing parties torpedoed emergency legislation aimed at tackling the housing crisis. Polls suggest the most likely outcome will be a rightwing coalition between the People’s party and the far-right, anti-immigration Vox party.

Marco Rubio reportedly spent over $1.2m of taxpayer money traveling to son’s football games

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has emerged as a superfan of the University of Florida’s football team, spending more than $1.2m of taxpayers’ money on frequent personal trips to watch them play, a report published on Wednesday claims. Ethics watchdogs have questioned the necessity of the country’s top diplomat shuttling so often between Washington DC and Gainesville, where his son Anthony has a walk-on role as a running back for the team known as the Gators.

An investigation by the Washington Post found that Rubio has attended at least 10 games in the last two seasons, including five this fall, and that of 23 total trips made to Gainesville on military aircraft, 15 were “personal” in nature. The newspaper said that while Rubio is prohibited from flying commercially, because of security protocols that also cover the secretary of defense and FBI and CIA directors, his use of government transport “appears to significantly outpace that of his predecessors”.

Using published defense department rates listing the cost per hour of different kinds of military aircraft, the Post calculated that the flights alone have cost more than $1.2m. Most recently, on 7 November, Rubio arrived in Gainesville on board an Air Force C-37, a plane used frequently for the VIP transport of high-ranking government officials, and was seen on the sidelines as the Gators lost 23-7 to Oklahoma. Anthony Rubio played no part in the game. Rubio, in a statement to the Post, defended his prolific trips to Florida, which often feature flights from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to the Homestead Air Reserve Base near Miami, and a secondary flight from there to Gainesville.

“I have and will continue to try and make it to as many events that are important to me personally and to my family as possible,” he said. Statistics, however, show that Anthony Rubio, a senior and the third of his four children, has played in only four competitive games in his four years at the university, two of them this season. According to ESPN, he has a college career total of 14 carries for a combined total of 75 yards, and a single touchdown.

Massie EXCLUSIVE: Trump TERRIFIED Epstein Files Will TAKE HIM DOWN

Democrats lambast absent peers after Republicans block Hegseth impeachment attempt

Democratic lawmakers expressed outrage at nearly a dozen of their colleagues for missing a vote Tuesday evening to impeach the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, allowing Republicans to defeat the effort. Eleven Democrats missed the key procedural vote on the impeachment effort, which failed by just seven votes. Some blamed traffic and conflicting events and others accused Speaker Mike Johnson of closing the vote early. Many of those not in the Capitol said they support the effort to impeach Hegseth.

“You should show up and do your job,” Abdul El-Sayed, the senator-elect of Michigan, said on CNN to the Democratic lawmakers Tuesday. Richard Ojeda, the representative-elect of North Carolina, told CNN that the Democratic representatives “failed” by not voting. “Shame on them for not showing up,” Ojeda said on Tuesday. “I mean, this is important … they had an opportunity to finally get rid of this buffoonery we had.”

The missing Democrats gave House Republicans the numbers to shelve the impeachment effort by voting 211 – 204 to refer eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth to a House committee.

Lawmakers Report That Some Democrats Missed Hegseth Impeachment Vote to Attend Event for ‘AIPAC Front Group’

Some of the 11 Democrats who missed Tuesday’s vote to advance the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were reportedly attending an event hosted by a “front group” for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, commonly known as AIPAC.

The vote, which would have prevented Republicans from killing efforts to impeach Hegseth over his launching of an unauthorized war against Iran, extrajudicial killings of sailors in the Caribbean and Pacific, kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and other actions, fell short by just seven votes.

The absent Democrats—Reps. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.)—could have changed the outcome.

Andrew Solender, a congressional reporter for Axios, shed new light on why some of them may have missed the crucial vote.

Per several members: Some of the House Democrats who missed the Hegseth impeachment vote were on their way back from an Elect Democratic Women event at a venue about 1.5 miles down Pennsylvania Ave but got caught in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam on Independence Ave. (the road on the House side of the Capitol complex).

Some members found other ways to get back to the Capitol because their cars were effectively stopped on the road. One got out and walked. Another got dropped off on the Senate side to avoid the traffic.

— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 11, 2026

Citing several lawmakers, he posted on social media:

Some of the House Democrats who missed the Hegseth impeachment vote were on their way back from an Elect Democratic Women event at a venue about 1.5 miles down Pennsylvania Avenue but got caught in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam on Independence Avenue (the road on the House side of the Capitol complex).

Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim noted that EDW was one of many groups that served as a “pass-through” for AIPAC funds in Democratic primaries during the 2026 election cycle.

As The Lever reported last month, AIPAC’s super political action committee (PAC), the United Democracy Project, donated nearly $2.4 million to the group’s political arm, EDW Action, while Democratic Majority for Israel donated another $140,000. Those funds made up nearly half the money the group subsequently spent in elections during the 2026 cycle, including against Democratic primary candidates critical of Israel, such as Reps.-elect Melat Kiros (D-Colo.) and Amish Shah (D-Ariz.).

EDW, which was founded in 2018 but did not start receiving AIPAC dollars through its action fund until 2024, was one of several innocuous-sounding groups—with names like “Affordable Chicago Now” and “BOLD America”—that acted as conduits for AIPAC dollars as the group’s support came to be viewed as toxic among Democratic voters who were outraged by Israel’s genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and push for Trump to launch a war with Iran.

Drop Site’s congressional reporter Julian Andreone found that all eight of the women who missed the vote have some connection to EDW: Brownley is listed as a founding member and current executive board member, while Stansbury has been an at-large board member since 2025. Gillen is listed as a “frontline member” supported by the group.

The group provided support to Wilson, Stevens, Strickland, and Pettersen during the past election cycle. Pelosi, who has helped EDW raise money for years, missed Tuesday’s impeachment vote because she was attending a veterans event in San Francisco.

According to an online post, EDW was holding a “new member reception” from 4:30 to 6:30 ET Tuesday at The Roost food hall at 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, during the impeachment vote, which was scheduled for 5:30 ET.

Solender did not clarify which Democrats missed the vote because of their attendance at the EDW event. But at least five members have blamed traffic for their absence: Gillen, Jackson, Stansbury, Strickland, and Pettersen.

Reports that members of Congress were attending an event hosted by a group linked to AIPAC—which has cheered President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran—immediately fueled speculation that their absences from the vote may not have been entirely accidental.

Journalist and AIPAC critic Adam Johnson mocked their explanations in a post on social media: “'I was stuck in traffic after attending an event for an AIPAC front group so I couldn’t (accidentally, and in good faith) vote to impeach the person prosecuting the war AIPAC enthusiastically supports,’” he wrote. “OK. If you say so.”

Hegseth and aides scolded by guard for laughing at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

A US army sentinel guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier loudly reprimanded the embattled US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and his top staffers on Wednesday, after some in the group were heard laughing and talking near the memorial following a Veterans Day ceremony.

According to video captured by the TV network pool, Hegseth was with his wife, Jennifer, chief of staff Ricky Buria, deputy chief of staff Patrick Weaver and senior adviser and deputy assistant Tami Radabaugh walking up the steps in front of the memorial after posing for pictures. A laugh is audible, prompting the guard to yell: “All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times.” Hegseth looked over his shoulder in the direction of the soldier as he continued walking up the steps.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement: “The secretary and the entire department have always honored – and will always honor – the sacrifices our military men and women have made to keep America safe.

“While commemorating this solemn day, a soldier correctly and respectfully reminded everyone to maintain decorum.”

Democrats push to rein in Trump on immigration after voter backlash to ICE raids

A group of congressional Democrats on Wednesday pushed for immediate efforts to rein in the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration enforcement operation and “bring sanity” to an immigration system that Donald Trump said, after his party’s midterm drubbing, had been “too tough” in certain aspects. Just over a week after the midterm elections in which the US president’s harsh crackdown on immigration fueled a voter backlash against Republicans, some sitting and newly elected Democrats gathered outside the US Capitol in Washington to advocate for a bipartisan approach to reforms – even as they gear up to take control of both legislative chambers next year.

“I have very aspirational dreams and hopes for immigration reform. But I am also a pragmatist. And as we have – as we continue to have – Donald Trump in the White House, and without a supermajority in the Senate, we need Republican support. So any comprehensive immigration reform must be bipartisan,” said congresswoman Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from Texas whose district includes El Paso on the US-Mexico border. The group’s press conference included progressive as well as moderate Democrats from the Senate and House, in a show of unity. Many attendees held signs saying “legal pathways for long-term immigrants”.

The one Republican lawmaker slated to attend, congresswoman Maria Salazar of Florida, who has taken jabs at the president over immigration that are rare from his side of the aisle, did not appear. “There is time still this session for a deal,” said US senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona. “We should try to work, even if we can’t get something this session, next session for a deal. We owe it to this country. We owe it to our friends.”

He added: “Republicans have been saying we will have immigration reform as soon as we have a safe, secure border. We have that right now. We did the job. Now let’s figure out how to right-size our immigration issue. Let’s figure out how to keep families together.”

The president’s mixed messages post-midterms included a tentative offer to make a deal with Democrats to help longstanding and law-abiding undocumented immigrants in the US avoid his crackdown. But that contrasted sharply with his actions so far, and shortly after the comments were recorded for TV he named Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff despite him being the architect and orchestrator of Trump’s most draconian, white nationalist immigration policies. Trump has also signaled that he intends to use his presidential veto power often to block Democratic-supported legislation if it passes Congress.

Democrat Scott Colom To Become First Black Mississippi Senator Elected Since 1874

Democrat Scott Colom defeated Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent Republican senator, to become the first Black senator in Mississippi elected since Reconstruction, in a stunning upset after more than a week of vote counting in one of the country’s most reliably red states.

Colom opened up a narrow lead over Hyde-Smith late on election night. His lead widened as election officials counted absentee and provisional ballots. The Associated Press called the contest on Wednesday, after it was clear Hyde-Smith was not able to close the gap.

Mississippi has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982. It’s been much longer – not since 1875 – that the state sent a Black senator to Washington. Colom is also the first Black man popularly elected to the Senate in the state’s history – during Reconstruction, senators were chosen by state lawmakers.

With Colom’s election, Mississippi, the first state to send Black lawmakers to Congress, has sent more Black people to the Senate than any other state besides Illinois. Blanche K Bruce, the last Black man elected to the Senate from Mississippi, was born into slavery; John C Stennis, the last Democrat to be sent from Mississippi, was, for most of his career, a staunch segregationist.

Spineless "Leftist" Electeds WON'T Force the Vote on Hakeem Jeffries (w/ Xavier Conley)

Petition Aimed at Drafting Ayanna Pressley to Challenge Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker Picks Up Steam

With calls from progressives growing for congressional Democrats to choose new leaders, a movement is building to have US Rep. Ayanna Pressley challenge Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for the speakership next year.

A Change.org petition launched this week is urging Democratic lawmakers to make Pressley speaker, arguing that the Massachusetts Democrat “represents a beacon of hope and integrity in a tumultuous political landscape.”

“We believe that as speaker of the House, Ayanna Pressley would bring her innovative spirit and unwavering resolve to tackle the pressing challenges facing our nation,” the petition states. “Her ability to foster meaningful conversations and build bridges across the political aisle makes her uniquely qualified for this pivotal role.”

The petition also praises Pressley’s leadership style, which it says is “marked by transparency and inclusivity”—traits that align “with what the majority of Americans want to see in their government.”

As of this writing, the petition has gathered more than 18,000 signatures.

While Pressley has not shown any intention of launching a challenge to Jeffries’ (D-NY) speakership bid, she said in a Tuesday social media post that Democrats need to act boldly to meet voters’ expectations.

“Republicans have been flooding the zone with lawlessness, cruelty, and corruption,” Pressley wrote. “And Democrats have a mandate to match their energy—boldly and unapologetically. It’s not enough to be the adults in the room. We have to prove that we are the FIGHTERS in the room.”

According to a tally published Wednesday by Drop Site, 49 House Democrats so far have pledged to support Jeffries for speaker, with 23 Democrats uncommitted and zero Democrats outright opposed. Jeffries needs to secure 218 votes in the next Congress to ascend to the speakership.

Following last week’s midterm elections, progressives have called for Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who aims to continue leading the Democrats in the Senate, to step aside and make way for leaders who better reflect the Democratic base.

Polls have shown a majority of Democratic voters support Medicare for All and an end to US military aid for Israel, for example, which both Jeffries and Schumer oppose.

the evening greens

‘The world we know is over’ without urgent climate action, leaders tell Cop31

Failure to provide an overwhelming response to the climate crisis means “the world we know is over”, the president of the embattled Marshall Islands has warned, as dozens of leaders gathered in Turkey for the Cop31 climate summit. Hilda Heine, one of a handful of Pacific Island leaders to make an impassioned speech at Cop31 on Wednesday, told other heads of state that overshooting the 1.5C Paris temperature target would mean waves eating away their shores and floods that destroy towns, schools and hospitals.

She described seeing bright, lush coral beneath the water of her home island in July that had been bleached white just months later. “It’s time to wake up,” said Heine. “Our response to the threat of overshoot must be overwhelming, or the world we know is over.” Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, also called out governments who had “not tried hard enough” to curb emissions since the Paris agreement. “The UN tells us that, even if every pledge is delivered, we are heading for 2.6 degrees,” she said. “On current policies, 2.8 degrees is where we will end up. “Let me be plain: overshoot is not a new target. It is a debt, a debt of heat, borrowed against our children’s future. And it must be repaid.”

António Guterres, the UN secretary general, blamed a deceitful fossil fuel industry and countries that “keep expanding fossil fuel production while claiming to be committed to 1.5C”. His speech – a salvo aimed at boosting the talks – was one of the last Guterres, a vocal climate advocate, will deliver as secretary general before he stands down next month. “We need an extraordinary acceleration,” Guterres said. “Our planet is heating up. The clock is winding down. It’s make or bake time. Fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs,” he added. “And that won’t happen on its own. The dinosaurs did not have a lobby – fossil fuels do.”

Guterres said oil and gas companies had distorted science and delayed action on the climate crisis, and called for a windfall tax on their bumper profits they have made from the Iran war. “It’s time to kick the habit and end the fossil-fuel addiction,” he said, to applause. “It’s time for governments to tax these windfall profits and use them to help vulnerable countries recover. Polluters must pay.”

The gathering of leaders was relatively threadbare. While 91 national leaders attended, according to the UN, major figures such as Donald Trump of the US and Xi Jinping of China were absent. Perhaps tellingly, some other leaders who declined to attend, including the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, are instead heading to Ireland for a conference on AI. Almost every country at Cop31 is lagging in cutting emissions, with insufficient finance for the nations most vulnerable to extreme heat, floods, fires and other climate-fuelled calamities.

Average US heating bills to rise 7% this winter nationwide – report

Americans are likely to face higher heating bills this winter amid a growing affordability crisis, with costs projected to climb more than 7% nationwide and some households facing increases of up to 70%, according to a new report. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (Neada), which represents state officials seeking federal funding, warns that disruptions stemming from the war with Iran are pushing heating costs higher as millions of families already struggle to pay utility bills.

Households relying on heating oil, particularly in the north-east and Alaska, face the biggest increases. Nearly 5m households use the fuel, with seasonal costs potentially jumping 70%, to approximately $2,977. The north-east is expected to see average heating bills rise 16.9%, or $221, from $1,311 last winter to $1,532 this winter. The region has some of the nation’s highest electricity prices and the greatest concentration of heating oil customers. “For higher-income households, these increases may be an inconvenience. For low- and middle-income families, they can be devastating,” said Mark Wolfe, executive director of Neada, in a statement.

Global fuel supply disruptions are adding pressure. Supplies have tightened as refineries in the Middle East and Russia shut down or cut production amid the US-Israel war with Iran and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Wolfe wrote last month about how the Iran war is deepening the US’s energy crisis, describing heating oil as “the canary in the coalmine” for the broader affordability crisis. “The situation in the strait of Hormuz remains highly volatile, and continued uncertainty about global oil supplies makes it difficult to predict where prices will go,” Wolfe said. “For planning purposes, we believe it is prudent to assume that heating oil prices will remain elevated throughout the winter heating season.”